Burcu Ertit Taştan

Effective bioremoval of reactive dye and heavy metals by Aspergillus versicolor.

In this study, bioaccumulation of heavy metal and dye by Aspergillus versicolor was investigated. Optimum pH values of the maximum heavy metal bioaccumulation was found as 6 for 50mg/L Cr(VI), Ni(II) and 5 for Cu(II) ions with the 99.89%, 30.05% and 29.06% removal yield, respectively. The bioremoval of the dye up to 800 mg/L at pH 5 and 6 was investigated and 27.15% and 28.95% removal rates were measured respectively. The presence of Cr(VI) with dye, decreased the uptake yield for both pollutants. In the medium with Cu(II) and dye, dye removal was not affected by Cu(II), but Cu(II) removal rate increased from 29.06% to 37.91% by the existence of the dye. When Ni(II) and dye were combined, neither pollutant affected the others removal yield. These results indicate that the isolated A. versicolor strain deserves attention as a promising bioaccumulator of heavy metal ions and reactive dyes in wastewater effluents.

Boron bioremoval by a newly isolated Chlorella sp. and its stimulation by growth stimulators.

It has been well documented that excess concentrations of boron (B) causes toxic effects on many of the environmental systems. Although Chlorella sp. has been studied to remove pollutants from water, its capacity to remove B has not been investigated yet. Boron removal levels of newly isolated Chlorella sp. were investigated in BG 11 media with stimulators as triacontanol (TRIA) and/or sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO(3)) and without them, to test if they could increase the removal efficiency by increasing biomass. The assays were performed to determine the effect of different medial compositions, B concentrations, pH and biomass concentrations onto removal efficiency. Boron removal was investigated at 5-10 mg/L range at pH 8 in different medial compositions and maximum removal yield was found as 32.95% at 5.45 mg/L B in media with TRIA and NaHCO(3). The effect of different pH values on the maximum removal yield was investigated at pH 5-9, and the optimum pH was found again 8. The interactive effect of biomass concentration and B removal yield was also investigated at 0.386-1.061 g wet weight/L biomass. The highest removal yield was found as 38.03% at the highest biomass range. This study highlights the importance of using new isolate Chlorella sp. as a new biomaterial for B removal process of waters containing B.

Biodegradation of pesticide triclosan by A. versicolor in simulated wastewater and semi-synthetic media

Triclosan is known as an antimicrobial agent, a powerful bacteriostat and an important pesticide. In this paper biodegradation of triclosan by Aspergillus versicolor was investigated. Effects of simulated wastewater and semi-synthetic media on fungal triclosan degradation process were detected. HPLC analysis showed that fungal triclosan biodegradation yield was 71.91% at about 7.5 mg/L concentration in semi-synthetic medium and was 37.47% in simulated wastewater. Fungus could be able to tolerate the highest triclosan concentration (15.69 mg/L). The biodegradation yield was 29.81% and qm was 2.22 mg/g at this concentration. Some of the parameters, such as pH, culture media, increasing triclosan and biomass concentrations were optimized in order to achieve the effective triclosan biodegradation process. The highest triclosan biodegradation yields of all microorganisms were achieved by A. versicolor.

Bioremoval of textile dyes with different chemical structures by Aspergillus versicolor in molasses medium.

Bioremoval of 17 dyes with different chemical structures by Aspergillus versicolor was detected in this study. Maxilon Red GRL (MR-GRL), Everdirect Fast Black VSF (EFB-VSF) and Brillant Blue R (BB-R) were removed better by fungal mycelia. Optimum pH values were found as 6 for all three dyes. In further experiments in the highest dye concentrations tested in this study, 58.3, 100 and 49% removal yields and 14.8, 12.6, 9.0 q(m) values were found for MR-GRL, EFB-VSF and BB-R, respectively. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction after seven days of incubation period and role of laccase activity of Aspergillus sp. were also investigated. COD reduction and laccase activities were 55.6% and 2.93 U/mL for MR-GRL, 90.7% and 3.0 U/mL for EFB-VSF and 69.0% and 1.79 U/mL for BB-R, respectively. According to these results A. versicolor deserves notable attention for removal of these dyes in wastewater effluents.

Utilization of LPG and gasoline engine exhaust emissions by microalgae.

The effect of engine exhaust emissions on air pollution is one of the greatest problems that the world is facing today. The study focused on the effects of realistic levels of engine exhaust emissions of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and gasoline (GSN) on Phormidium sp. and Chlorella sp. Multi parameters including pH, different medial compositions, fuel types, flow rates and biomass concentrations were described in detail. Effects of some growth factors such as triacontanol (TRIA) and salicylic acid (SA) have also been tested. The maximum biomass concentration of Phormidium sp. reached after 15 days at 0.36 and 0.15 g/L initial biomass concentrations were found as 1.160 g/L for LPG emission treated cultures and 1.331 g/L for GSN emission treated cultures, respectively. The corresponding figures were 1.478 g/L for LPG emission treated cultures and 1.636 g/L for GSN emission treated cultures at 0.65 and 0.36 g/L initial Chlorella sp. biomass concentrations. This study highlights the significance of using Phormidium sp. and Chlorella sp. for utilization of LPG and GSN engine exhaust emissions by the help of growth factors.

Detection of boron removal capacities of different microorganisms in wastewater and effective removal process

In this study boron removal capacities of different microorganisms were tested. Candida tropicalis, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus thuringiensis, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus pumilus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Aspergillus versicolor were examined for their boron bioaccumulation capacities in simulated municipal wastewater. A. versicolor and B. cereus were found as the most boron-tolerant microorganisms in the experiments. Also boron bioaccumulation yield of A. versicolor was 49.25% at 15 mg/L boron concentration. On the other hand biosorption experiments revealed that A. versicolor was more capable of boron removal in inactive form at the highest boron concentrations. In this paper maximum boron bioaccumulation yield was detected as 39.08% at 24.17 mg/L and the maximum boron biosorption yield was detected as 41.36% at 24.01 mg/L boron concentrations.

Effects of different culture media on biodegradation of triclosan by Rhodotorula mucilaginosa and Penicillium sp.

Triclosan is an antimicrobial agent and a persistent pollutant. The biodegradation of triclosan is dependent on many variables including the biodegradation organism and the environmental conditions. Here, we evaluated the triclosan degradation potential of two fungi strains, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa and Penicillium sp., and the rate of its turnover to 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP). Both of these strains showed less susceptibility to triclosan when grown in minimal salt medium. In order to further evaluate the effects of environmental conditions on triclosan degradation, three different culture conditions including original thermal power plant wastewater, T6 nutrimedia and ammonium mineral salts medium were used. The maximum triclosan degradation yield was 48% for R. mucilaginosa and 82% for Penicillium sp. at 2.7 mg/L triclosan concentration. Biodegradation experiments revealed that Penicillium sp. was more tolerant to triclosan. Scanning electron microscopy micrographs also showed the morphological changes of fungus when cells were treated with triclosan. Overall, these fungi strains could be used as effective microorganisms in active uptake (degradation) and passive uptake (sorption) of triclosan and their efficiency can be increased by optimizing the culture conditions.

A new and effective approach to boron removal by using novel boron-specific fungi isolated from boron mining wastewater

Boron-resistant fungi were isolated from the wastewater of a boron mine in Turkey. Boron removal efficiencies of Penicillium crustosum and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa were detected in different media compositions. Minimal Salt Medium (MSM) and two different waste media containing molasses (WM-1) or whey + molasses (WM-2) were tested to make this process cost effective when scaled up. Both isolates achieved high boron removal yields at the highest boron concentrations tested in MSM and WM-1. The maximum boron removal yield by P. crustosum was 45.68% at 33.95 mg l(-1) initial boron concentration in MSM, and was 38.97% at 42.76 mg l(-1) boron for R. mucilaginosa, which seemed to offer an economically feasible method of removing boron from the effluents.

Toxicity assessment of pesticide triclosan by aquatic organisms and degradation studies

ABSTRACT Triclosan is considered as an important contaminant and is widely used in personal care products as an antimicrobial agent. This study demonstrates the biodegradation of triclosan by two freshwater microalgae and the acute toxicity of triclosan and 2,4‐dichlorophenol. The effects of culture media and light on biodegradation of triclosan and the changing morphology of microalgae were systematically studied. Geitlerinema sp. and Chlorella sp. degraded 82.10% and 92.83% of 3.99 mg/L of triclosan at 10 days, respectively. The microalgal growth inhibition assay confirmed absence of toxic effects of triclosan on Chlorella sp., even at higher concentration (50 mg/L) after 72 h exposure. HPLC analysis showed that 2,4‐dichlorophenol was produced as degradation product of triclosan by Geitlerinema sp. and Chlorella sp. This study proved to be beneficial to understand biodegradation and acute toxicity of triclosan by microalgae in order to provide aquatic environmental protection. Graphical abstract Figure. No Caption available. HighlightsA novel triclosan degrading cyanobacterium Geitlerinema sp. was isolated.2,4‐dichlorophenol was detected as degradation product of triclosan.92.83% of 3.99 mg/L triclosan was degraded by Chlorella sp.The EC50 was 0.2 mg/L and LD50 was 1 mg/L for triclosan treated daphnids.The EC50 was 5 mg/L and LD50 was 10 mg/L for 2,4‐dichlorophenol treated daphnids.