Ademola O. Olaniran

Chlorophenols and other related derivatives of environmental concern: properties, distribution and microbial degradation processes.

Chlorophenols are chlorinated aromatic compound structures and are commonly found in pesticide preparations as well as industrial wastes. They are recalcitrant to biodegradation and consequently persistent in the environment. A variety of chlorophenols derivatives compounds are highly toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic for living organisms. Biological transformation by microorganisms is one of the key remediation options that can be exploited to solve environmental pollution problems caused by these notorious compounds. The key enzymes in the microbial degradation of chlorophenols are the oxygenases and dioxygenases. These enzymes can be engineered for enhanced degradation of highly chlorinated aromatic compounds through directed evolution methods. This review underscores the mechanisms of chlorophenols biodegradation with the view to understanding how bioremediation processes can be optimized for cleaning up chloroaromatic contaminated environments.

Bioavailability of heavy metals in soil: impact on microbial biodegradation of organic compounds and possible improvement strategies.

Co-contamination of the environment with toxic chlorinated organic and heavy metal pollutants is one of the major problems facing industrialized nations today. Heavy metals may inhibit biodegradation of chlorinated organics by interacting with enzymes directly involved in biodegradation or those involved in general metabolism. Predictions of metal toxicity effects on organic pollutant biodegradation in co-contaminated soil and water environments is difficult since heavy metals may be present in a variety of chemical and physical forms. Recent advances in bioremediation of co-contaminated environments have focussed on the use of metal-resistant bacteria (cell and gene bioaugmentation), treatment amendments, clay minerals and chelating agents to reduce bioavailable heavy metal concentrations. Phytoremediation has also shown promise as an emerging alternative clean-up technology for co-contaminated environments. However, despite various investigations, in both aerobic and anaerobic systems, demonstrating that metal toxicity hampers the biodegradation of the organic component, a paucity of information exists in this area of research. Therefore, in this review, we discuss the problems associated with the degradation of chlorinated organics in co-contaminated environments, owing to metal toxicity and shed light on possible improvement strategies for effective bioremediation of sites co-contaminated with chlorinated organic compounds and heavy metals.

Treated Wastewater Effluent as a Source of Microbial Pollution of Surface Water Resources

Since 1990, more than 1.8 billion people have gained access to potable water and improved sanitation worldwide. Whilst this represents a vital step towards improving global health and well-being, accelerated population growth coupled with rapid urbanization has further strained existing water supplies. Whilst South Africa aims at spending 0.5% of its GDP on improving sanitation, additional factors such as hydrological variability and growing agricultural needs have further increased dependence on this finite resource. Increasing pressure on existing wastewater treatment plants has led to the discharge of inadequately treated effluent, reinforcing the need to improve and adopt more stringent methods for monitoring discharged effluent and surrounding water sources. This review provides an overview of the relative efficiencies of the different steps involved in wastewater treatment as well as the commonly detected microbial indicators with their associated health implications. In addition, it highlights the need to enforce more stringent measures to ensure compliance of treated effluent quality to the existing guidelines.

Textile dye removal from wastewater effluents using bioflocculants produced by indigenous bacterial isolates.

Bioflocculant-producing bacteria were isolated from activated sludge of a wastewater treatment plant located in Durban, South Africa, and identified using standard biochemical tests as well as the analysis of their 16S rRNA gene sequences. The bioflocculants produced by these organisms were ethanol precipitated, purified using 2% (w/v) cetylpyridinium chloride solution and evaluated for removal of wastewater dyes under different pH, temperature and nutritional conditions. Bioflocculants from these indigenous bacteria were very effective for decolourizing the different dyes tested in this study, with a removal rate of up to 97.04%. The decolourization efficiency was largely influenced by the type of dye, pH, temperature, and flocculant concentration. A pH of 7 was found to be optimum for the removal of both whale and mediblue dyes, while the optimum pH for fawn and mixed dye removal was found to be between 9 and 10. Optimum temperature for whale and mediblue dye removal was 35 °C, and that for fawn and mixed dye varied between 40–45 °C and 35–40 °C, respectively. These bacterial bioflocculants may provide an economical and cleaner alternative to replace or supplement present treatment processes for the removal of dyes from wastewater effluents, since they are biodegradable and easily sustainable.

Bioflocculant Production by Virgibacillus sp. Rob Isolated from the Bottom Sediment of Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

A bioflocculant-producing marine bacterium previously isolated from marine sediment of Algoa Bay was screened for flocculant production. Comparative analysis of 16S rDNA sequence identified the isolate to have 99% similarity to Virgibacillus sp. XQ-1 and it was deposited in the GenBank as Virgibacillus sp. Rob with accession number HQ537127. The bacterium produced biflocculants optimally in glucose (70.4%) and peptone (70.4%) as sole sources of carbon and nitrogen, alkaline pH (12) (74%); and the presence of Fe2+ (74%). Chemical analysis of the bioflocculant revealed it to be a polysaccharide.

Microbial enzymatic production and applications of short-chain fructooligosaccharides and inulooligosaccharides: recent advances and current perspectives

The industrial production of short-chain fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and inulooligosaccharides is expanding rapidly due to the pharmaceutical importance of these compounds. These compounds, concisely termed prebiotics, have biofunctional properties and hence health benefits if consumed in recommended dosages. Prebiotics can be produced enzymatically from sucrose elongation or via enzymatic hydrolysis of inulin by exoinulinases and endoinulinases acting alone or synergistically. Exoinulinases cleave the non-reducing β-(2, 1) end of inulin-releasing fructose while endoinulinases act on the internal linkages randomly to release inulotrioses (F3), inulotetraoses (F4) and inulopentaoses (F5) as major products. Fructosyltransferases act by cleaving a sucrose molecule and then transferring the liberated fructose molecule to an acceptor molecule such as sucrose or another oligosaccharide to elongate the short-chain fructooligosaccharide. The FOS produced by the action of fructosyltransferases are 1-kestose (GF2), nystose (GF3) and fructofuranosyl nystose (GF4). The production of high yields of oligosaccharides of specific chain length from simple raw materials such as inulin and sucrose is a technical challenge. This paper critically explores recent research trends in the production and application of short-chain oligosaccharides. Inulin and enzyme sources for the production of prebiotics are discussed. The mechanism of FOS chain elongation and also the health benefits associated with prebiotics consumption are discussed in detail.

Aerobic biodegradation of dichloroethenes by indigenous bacteria isolated from contaminated sites in Africa.

The widespread use of tetrachloroethene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE) as dry cleaning solvents and degreasing agents for military and industrial applications has resulted in significant environmental contamination worldwide. Anaerobic biotransformation of PCE and TCE through reductive dechlorination frequently lead to the accumulation of dichloroethenes (DCEs), thus limiting the use of reductive dechlorination for the biotransformation of the compounds. In this study, seven bacteria indigenous to contaminated sites in Africa were characterized for DCE degradation under aerobic conditions. The specific growth rate constants of the bacterial isolates ranged between 0.346-0.552 d(-1) and 0.461-0.667 d(-1) in cis-DCE and trans-DCE, respectively. Gas chromatographic analysis revealed that up to 75% of the compounds were degraded within seven days with the degradation rate constants ranging between 0.167 and 0.198 d(-1). The two compounds were also observed to be significantly degraded, simultaneously, rather than sequentially, when present as a mixture. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences of the bacterial isolates revealed their identity as well as their relation to other environmentally-important bacteria. The observed biodegradation of DCEs may contribute to PCE and TCE removal at the aerobic fringe of groundwater plumes undergoing reductive dechlorination in contaminated sites.

Aroma-active ester profile of ale beer produced under different fermentation and nutritional conditions

A broad range of aroma-active esters produced during fermentation are vital for the complex flavour of beer. This study assessed the influence of fermentation temperature, pH, and wort nutritional supplements on the production of yeast-derived ester compounds and the overall fermentation performance. The best fermentation performance was achieved when wort was supplemented with 0.75 g/l l-leucine resulting in highest reducing sugar and FAN (free amino nitrogen) utilization and ethanol production. At optimum fermentation pH of 5, 38.27% reducing sugars and 35.28% FAN was utilized resulting in 4.07% (v/v) ethanol. Wort supplemented with zinc sulphate (0.12 g/l) resulted in 5.01% ethanol (v/v) production and 54.32% reducing sugar utilization. Increase in fermentation temperature from 18°C to room temperature (± 22.5°C) resulted in 17.03% increased ethanol production and 14.42% and 62.82% increase in total acetate ester concentration and total ethyl ester concentration, respectively. Supplementation of worth with 0.12 g/l ZnSO4 resulted in 2.46-fold increase in both isoamyl acetate and ethyl decanoate concentration, while a 7.05-fold and 1.96-fold increase in the concentration of isoamyl acetate and ethyl decanoate, respectively was obtained upon 0.75 g/l l-leucine supplementation. Wort supplemented with l-leucine (0.75 g/l) yielded the highest beer foam head stability with a rating of 2.67, while highest yeast viability was achieved when wort was supplemented with 0.12 g/l zinc sulphate. Results from this study suggest that supplementing wort with essential nutrients required for yeast growth and optimizing the fermentation conditions could be an effective way of improving fermentation performance and controlling aroma-active esters in beer.

Production and characterization of bioflocculant produced by Halobacillus sp. Mvuyo isolated from bottom sediment of Algoa Bay

A bioflocculant-producing bacteria isolated from marine sediment of Algoa Bay was assessed for its bioflocculant-producing potentials. Based on 16S recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (rDNA) sequence analysis, the isolate was identified as Halobacillus sp. and deposited in the Genbank as Halobacillus sp. Mvuyo with accession number HQ537125. The bacteria produced bioflocculant optimally in the presence of glucose (76% flocculating activity) and ammonium chloride (93% flocculating activity) as sole sources of carbon and nitrogen, respectively. The flocculating capabilities of the flocculant were increased by the addition of Ca2+ (76% flocculating activity) and the highest flocculating activity was observed at neutral pH (7.0). The chemical analysis of the bioflocculant revealed that it contained mainly polysaccharide and protein.

Quantitative assessment of the toxic effects of heavy metals on 1,2-dichloroethane biodegradation in co-contaminated soil under aerobic condition.

1,2-Dichloroethane (1,2-DCA) is one of the most hazardous pollutant of soil and groundwater, and is produced in excess of 5.44×10⁹ kg annually. Owing to their toxicity, persistence and potential for bioaccumulation, there is a growing interest in technologies for their removal. Heavy metals are known to be toxic to soil microorganisms at high concentrations and can hinder the biodegradation of organic contaminants. In this study, the inhibitory effect of heavy metals, namely; arsenic, cadmium, mercury and lead, on the aerobic biodegradation of 1,2-DCA by autochthonous microorganisms was evaluated in soil microcosm setting. The presence of heavy metals was observed to have a negative impact on the biodegradation of 1,2-DCA in both soil samples tested, with the toxic effect being more pronounced in loam soil, than in clay soil. Generally, 75 ppm As³⁺, 840 ppm Hg²⁺, and 420 ppm Pb²⁺ resulted in 34.24%, 40.64%, and 45.94% increase in the half live (t½) of 1,2-DCA, respectively, in loam soil, while concentrations above 127.5 ppm Cd²⁺, 840 ppm Hg²⁺ and 420 ppm of Pb²⁺ and less than 75 ppm As³⁺ was required to cause a >10% increase in the t½ of 1,2-DCA in clay soil. A dose-dependent relationship between degradation rate constant (k₁) of 1,2-DCA and metal ion concentrations was observed for all the heavy metals tested, except for Hg²⁺. This study demonstrated that different heavy metals have different impacts on the degree of 1,2-DCA degradation. Results also suggest that the degree of inhibition is metal specific and is also dependent on several factors including; soil type, pH, moisture content and available nutrients.