Development of immobilized novel fungal consortium for the efficient remediation of cyanide-contaminated wastewaters

• Published in: Bioresource technology 2023-04, Vol.373, p.128750-128750, Article 128750
• Main Authors: Rishi, Saloni, Kaur, Ispreet, Naseem, Mariya, Gaur, Vivek Kumar, Mishra, Sandhya, Srivastava, Suchi, Saini, Harvinder Singh, Srivastava, Pankaj Kumar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biodegradation; Biodegradation, Environmental; Cyanide; Cyanides - metabolism; Environmental Pollutants; Immobilized cell; Kinetics; Microorganism; Sewage; Wastewater; Water Pollutants, Chemical - metabolism
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.128750

[Display omitted] •Novel Trichoderma strains remediated cyanide in contaminated wastewater.•Co-inoculation of T. saturnisporum-T. citrinoviride degraded 99% CN in wastewater.•Microbial rhodanese activity (sulfurtransferase) was dependent on GSG:GSSH ratio.•First-order kinetics was the best-fitted model for CN biodegradation in the study. Free cyanide is a hazardous pollutant released from steel industries. Environmentally-safe remediation of cyanide-contaminated wastewater is required. In this work, Pseudomonas stutzeri (ASNBRI_B12), Trichoderma longibrachiatum (ASNBRI_F9), Trichoderma saturnisporum (ASNBRI_F10) and Trichoderma citrinoviride (ASNBRI_F14) were isolated from blast-furnace wastewater and activated-sludge by enrichment culture. Elevated microbial growth, rhodanese activity (82 %) and GSSG (128 %) were observed with 20 mg-CN L−1. Cyanide degradation > 99 % on 3rd d as evaluated through ion chromatography, followed by first-order kinetics (r2 = 0.94–0.99). Cyanide degradation in wastewater (20 mg-CN L−1, pH 6.5) was studied in ASNBRI_F10 and ASNBRI_F14 which displayed increased biomass to 49.7 % and 21.6 % respectively. Maximum cyanide degradation of 99.9 % in 48 h was shown by an immobilized consortium of ASNBRI_F10 and ASNBRI_F14. FTIR analysis revealed that cyanide treatment alters functional groups on microbial cell walls. The novel consortium of T. saturnisporum-T. citrinoviride in the form of immobilized culture can be employed to treat cyanide-contaminated wastewater.