High performance degradation of azo dye Acid Orange 7 and sulfanilic acid in a laboratory scale reactor after seeding with cultured bacterial strains

• Published in: Water research (Oxford) 2003-06, Vol.37 (11), p.2757-2763
• Main Authors: Coughlin, Michael F., Kinkle, Brian K., Bishop, Paul L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acid Orange 7; Aerobic; Applied sciences; Azo Compounds - metabolism; Azo Dyes; Bacteria; Bacteria, Aerobic - physiology; Benzenesulfonates - metabolism; Biodegradation, Environmental; Biofilm; Biofilms; Biological and medical sciences; Biological treatment of waters; Bioreactors; Biotechnology; Coloring Agents - metabolism; Degradation; Environment and pollution; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Indicators and Reagents - metabolism; Industrial applications and implications. Economical aspects; Industrial wastewaters; Pollution; Sulfanilic acid; Sulfanilic Acids - metabolism; Wastewaters; Water treatment and pollution
• ISSN: 0043-1354; 1879-2448
• DOI: 10.1016/S0043-1354(03)00069-1

Bacterial strains 1CX and SAD4i—previously isolated from the mixed liquor of a municipal sewage treatment plant—are capable of degrading the azo dye Acid Orange 7 (AO7) and sulfanilic acid, respectively. A rotating drum bioreactor (RDBR), operating under continuous flow and nutrient conditions designed to simulate the effluent from a dye manufacturing plant, was seeded with strains 1CX and SAD4i, forming a biofilm capable of degrading AO7 and sulfanilic acid. In addition, an RDBR containing a pre-existing biofilm capable of degrading AO7, but not sulfanilic acid, was seeded with strain SAD4i alone. Strain SAD4i was incorporated into the existing biofilm and degraded the sulfanilic acid resulting from the degradation of AO7 by indigenous members of the biofilm. The ability to seed a bioreactor with bacterial strains capable of degrading azo dyes, and resulting by-products, in a mixed microbial community suggests that this process could have commercial applications.