Characterization of a Bioflocculant (MBF-UFH) Produced by Bacillus sp. AEMREG7 |
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Authors: | Kunle Okaiyeto Uchechukwu U Nwodo Leonard V Mabinya Arinze S Okoli Anthony I Okoh |
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Affiliation: | 1.South Africa-Medical Research Council (SA-MRC), Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, 5700 Alice, South Africa; E-Mails: (U.U.N.); (L.V.M.); (A.I.O.);2.Applied and Environmental Microbiology Research Group, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Fort Hare, 5700 Alice, South Africa;3.GenØK-Centre for Biosafety, Forskningsparken i Breivika, Postboks 6418, 9294 Tromsø, Norway; E-Mail: |
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Abstract: | A bioflocculant named MBF-UFH produced by a Bacillus species isolated from sediment samples of Algoa Bay of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa was characterized. The bacterial identification was through 16S rDNA sequencing; nucleotide sequences were deposited in GenBank as Bacillus sp. AEMREG7 with Accession Number {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"KP659187","term_id":"768700521","term_text":"KP659187"}}KP659187. The production of the bioflocculant was observed to be closely associated with cell growth. The bioflocculant had the highest flocculating activity of 83.2% after 72 h of cultivation, and approximately 1.6 g of purified MBF-UFH was recovered from 1 L of fermentation broth. Its chemical analyses indicated that it is a glycoprotein composed of polysaccharide (76%) and protein (14%). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) revealed that it consisted of hydroxyl, amide, carboxyl and methoxyl as the functional moieties. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the amorphous structure of MBF-UFH and flocculated kaolin clay particles. The maximum flocculating activity of 92.6% against kaolin clay suspension was achieved at 0.3 mg/mL over pH ranges of 3–11 with the peak flocculating rate at pH 8 in the presence of MgCl2. The bioflocculant retained high flocculating activity of 90% after heating at 100 °C for 1 h. MBF-UFH appears to have immense potential as an alternative to conventional chemical flocculants. |
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Keywords: | Bacillus sp AEMREG7 MBF-UFH flocculating activity glycoprotein thermostable |
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