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Carbamazepine biodegradation and volatile fatty acids production by selectively enriched sulfate‐reducing bacteria and fermentative acidogenic bacteria
Author(s) -
Tahir Khurram,
Miran Waheed,
Jang Jiseon,
Shahzad Asif,
Moztahida Mokrema,
Kim Bolam,
Lim SeongRin,
Lee Dae Sung
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of chemical technology and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1097-4660
pISSN - 0268-2575
DOI - 10.1002/jctb.6572
Subject(s) - biodegradation , acidogenesis , chemistry , desulfovibrio , bacteria , food science , sulfate , butyric acid , sulfate reducing bacteria , acetic acid , fermentation , chemical oxygen demand , microbial population biology , microbial consortium , clostridia , environmental chemistry , microorganism , organic chemistry , wastewater , biology , anaerobic digestion , waste management , methane , genetics , engineering
BACKGROUND The micropollutant carbamazepine (CBZ) is persistent and resistant to conventional wastewater treatment. This study investigated the role of fermentative acidogenic bacteria (FAB) and sulfate‐reducing bacteria (SRB) for CBZ biodegradation and volatile fatty acid (VFA) production. RESULTS The experimental results demonstrated that CBZ biodegradation, total organic carbon and sulfate removal efficiency reached 46%, 36% and 98%, respectively, after 144 h of operation with VFA production of acetic acid (20.72 mmol L −1 ), propionic acid (3.67 mmol L −1 ) and butyric acid (4.90 mmol L −1 ). However, the acetate fraction decreased from 78% to 70% with a decrease in chemical oxygen demand/sulfate (COD:SO 4 2− ) ratios from 1.06 to 0.35, respectively, suggesting that acetate was partially oxidized by SRB under substrate/COD limiting conditions. The biodegradation performance of SRB + FAB was also compared with that of a mixed microbial community (MMC). CONCLUSIONS Upon increasing the initial CBZ concentration from 42.3 to 169.2 μmol L −1 , SRB + FAB exhibited much higher CBZ biodegradation (33%) than MMC (12%). Microbial community analyses confirmed the enrichment of VFA‐producing species including phylum Firmicutes (2.4% to 36.8%) and class Clostridia (1.3% to 29.6%). Moreover, aromatic and nitroaromatic compound‐degrading bacteria such as Escherichia and Desulfovibrio were also enriched. This signifies the applicability of SRB + FAB to pharmaceutical pollutant biodegradation in the environment. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI)