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Characterization of the nitrobenzene-degrading strain Pseudomonas sp. a3 and use of its immobilized cells in the treatment of mixed aromatics wastewater

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Abstract

A bacterial strain Pseudomonas sp. a3 capable of degrading nitrobenzene, phenol, aniline, and other aromatics was isolated and characterized. When nitrobenzene was degraded, the release of NH4 + was detected, but not of NO2 −. This result implied that nitrobenzene might have a partial reductive metabolic pathway in strain a3. However, aniline appeared as one of the metabolites during the aerobic degradation of nitrobenzene. Moreover, the appearance of 2-aminophenol during aniline degradation by strain a3 indicated that novel initial reactions existed during the degradation of nitrobenzene and aniline by strain a3. Strain a3 was immobilized in the mixed carrier of polyvinyl alcohol and sodium alginate to improve its degrading efficiency. The optimal concentrations of polyvinyl alcohol and sodium alginate in the mixed carrier were 9 and 3 %, respectively. The immobilized cells had stable degradation activity and good mechanical properties in the recycling tests. The immobilized cells also exhibited higher tolerances in acidic (pH 4–5) and highly saline (10 % NaCl) environments than those of free cells. The biodegradation of nitrobenzene mixed with aniline and phenol using immobilized cells of Pseudomonas sp. a3 was also greatly improved compared with those of free cells. The immobilized cells could completely degrade 300 mg L−1 nitrobenzene within 10 h with 150 mg L−1 aniline and 150 mg L−1 phenol. This result revealed that the immobilized cells of Pseudomonas sp. a3 could be a potential candidate for treating nitrobenzene wastewater mixed with other aromatics.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Chinese National Natural Science Fund (31070099, 30830001 and 31000060), the Opening Fund of State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture (Y052010025), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (KYZ200920) and the Major Technology Special Social Development Project (2007C13059).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Lab of Agricultural Environmental Microbiology, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China

    Zhiguo Wu, Yalong Liu, Hongming Liu, Yali Xia, Wenjing Shen, Qing Hong & Shunpeng Li

  2. State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Zhiguo Wu & Qing Hong

  3. Environmental Engineering Co., Ltd, Hangzhou, 310012, Zhejiang Province, China

    Hangyong Yao

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  1. Zhiguo Wu
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  2. Yalong Liu
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  3. Hongming Liu
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  4. Yali Xia
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  5. Wenjing Shen
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  6. Qing Hong
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  7. Shunpeng Li
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  8. Hangyong Yao
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Correspondence to Qing Hong.

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Wu, Z., Liu, Y., Liu, H. et al. Characterization of the nitrobenzene-degrading strain Pseudomonas sp. a3 and use of its immobilized cells in the treatment of mixed aromatics wastewater. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 28, 2679–2687 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-012-1078-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-012-1078-2

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