ENHANCED BIODEGRADATION OF TOLUENE AND XYLENE BY ABACTERIAL CONSORTIUMV. DHANYAAbstract Organic pollutants are now considered as wide spread contaminants. Industrial effluents released into the ecosystem are usually composed of large number of organic pollutants like xylene and toluene. Due to their acute toxicity it is very essential to remove these pollutants from our environment. This study focused on the construction of a bacterial consortium for the enhanced bio degradation of toluene and xylene (TX). A noval bacterial consortium of Alcaligenes sp d2 and Raoultellasp was constructed by soil enrichment technique. A pH of 6.25, incubation time of 48 hrs and a substrate concentration 250 μL of toluene and xylene with the consortium constituted by mixing equal proportions of the two bacterial isolates were found to be optimum for the biodegradation. Degradation of TX by the consortium was analyzed byThin Layer Chromatography (TLC) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT/IR). FT/IR spectra clearly suggested the complete removal of toxic chemicals from the medium. The molecular study was done by isolating a plasmid of size 21.2 kbp from Raoultella sp. Bio degradation with microbial consortium offersa very promising approach in the elimination of organic pollutant mixture. Hence the present study with the bacterial isolates can be used for the better removal of toluene and xylene from contaminated sites.
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