Aerobic biodegradation of di-n-butyl phthalate by Xiangjiang River sediment and microflora analysis

Di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), one of phthalate acid esters (PAEs), was investigated to determine its biodegradation rate using Xiangjiang River sediment and find potential DBP degraders in the enrichment culture of the sediment. The sediment sample was incubated with an initial concentration of DBP of 100 mg/L for 5 d. The biodegradation rate of DBP was detected using HPLC and the degraded products were analyzed by GC/MS. Subsequently, the microbial diversity of the enrichment culture was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The results reveal that almost 100% of DBP is degraded after merely 3 d, generating two main degraded products: mono-butyl phthalate (MBP) and 9-octadecenoic acid. After a six-month enrichment period under the pressure of DBP, the dominant family in the final enrichment culture is clustered with the Comamonas sp., the remaining are affiliated with Sphingomonas sp., Hydrogenophaga sp., Rhizobium sp., and Acidovorax sp. The results show the potential of these bacteria to be used in the bioremediation of DBP in the environment.     

Isolation and identification of moderately thermophilic acidophilic iron-oxidizing bacterium and its bioleaching characterization

A moderately thermophilic acidophilic iron-oxidizing bacterium ZW-1 was isolated from Dexing mine, Jiangxi Province, China. The morphological, biochemical and physiological characteristics, 16S rRNA sequence and bioleaching characterization of strain ZW-1 were studied. The optimum growth temperature is 48 ℃, and the optimum initial pH is 1.9. The strain can grow autotrophically by using ferrous iron or elemental sulfur as sole energy sources. The strain is also able to grow heterotrophically by using peptone and yeast extract powder, but not glucose. The cell density of strain ZW-1 can reach up to 1.02×108 /mL with addition of 0.4 g/L peptone. A phylogenetic tree was constructed by comparing with the published 16S rRNA sequences of the relative bacteria species. In the phylogenetic tree, strain ZW-1 is closely relative to Sulfobacilus acidophilus with more than 99% sequence similarity. The results of bioleaching experiments indicate that the strain could oxidize Fe2+ efficiently, and the maximum oxidizing rate is 0.295 g/(L·h). It could tolerate high concentration of Fe3+ and Cu2+ (35 g/L and 25 g/L, respectively). After 20 d, 44.6% of copper is extracted from chalcopyrite by using strain ZW-1 as inocula.