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Bioreduction of toxic hexavalent chromium by novel indigenous microbe Brevibacillus agri isolated from tannery wastewater

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Abstract

The present study is focused on the microbial bioreduction of hexavalent chromium generated from tannery waste. For the study, the treated and untreated tannery effluents were collected from an unexplored site of Manpura, Macheri, Jaipur (India). A few bacterial strains capable of tolerating and reducing hexavalent chromium were isolated, and the most capable one that reduced 85% of hexavalent chromium was identified to be Brevibacillus agri by 16S rDNA gene sequencing. This isolate could tolerate high concentrations of chromium up to 850 mg/l of potassium dichromate and showed maximum reduction of about 85% for 100 mg/l of hexavalent chromium at temperature 37 °C and pH 7.0 in 48 h. The potential of the partially purified enzyme to reduce hexavalent chromium was measured by diphenyl carbazide assay. Purified enzyme showed 0.26 units bioactivity to reduce Cr, in the presence of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and Km and Vmax were observed to be 1.9 mM and 0.045 mM/min (mg protein), respectively. The current study, therefore, showed Brevibacillus agri capable of reducing hexavalent chromium without usage of toxic chemicals and, henceforth, prevented generation of harmful by-products.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the generosity of the authorities of Manpura, Macheri Tannery Treatment Plant for providing the wastewater sample. The authors are also grateful to Birla Institute of Scientific Research, Jaipur and Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board, Jaipur, for permitting the use of their research facilities and conducting AAS, respectively.

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  1. S. Chatterjee and K. Shekhawat have contributed equally as first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, The IIS University, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

    S. Chatterjee, K. Shekhawat & N. Gupta

  2. R&D Laboratory, The IIS University, Gurukul Marg, SFS, Mansarovar, Jaipur, Rajasthan, 302020, India

    N. Gupta

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  1. S. Chatterjee
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  2. K. Shekhawat
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  3. N. Gupta
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Correspondence to N. Gupta.

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Editorial responsibility: M. Abbaspour.

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Chatterjee, S., Shekhawat, K. & Gupta, N. Bioreduction of toxic hexavalent chromium by novel indigenous microbe Brevibacillus agri isolated from tannery wastewater. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 16, 3549–3556 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-018-1885-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-018-1885-6

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