Application of two bacterial strains for wastewater bioremediation and assessment of phenolics biodegradation

The use of native bacteria is a useful strategy to decontaminate industrial effluents. In this work, two bacterial strains isolated from polluted environments constitutes a promising alternative since they were able to remove several phenolic compounds not only from synthetic solutions but also from effluents derived from a chemical industry and a tannery which are complex matrices. Acinetobacter sp. RTE1.4 showed ability to completely remove 2-methoxyphenol (1000 mg/L) while Rhodococcus sp. CS1 not only degrade the same concentration of this compound but also removed 4- chlorophenol, 2,4-dichlorophenol and pentachlorophenol with high efficiency. Moreover, both bacteria degraded phenols naturally present or even exogenously added at high concentrations in effluents from the chemical industry and a tannery in short time (up to 5 d). In addition, a significant reduction of biological oxygen demand and chemical oxygen demand values was achieved after 7 d of treatment for both effluents using Acinetobacter sp. RTE1.4 and Rhodococcus sp. CS1, respectively. These results showed that Acinetobacter sp. RTE1.4 and Rhodococcus sp. CS1 might be considered as useful biotechnological tools for an efficient treatment of different effluents, since they showed wide versatility to detoxify these complex matrices, even supplemented with high phenol concentrations.