BACTERIOPHAGE: AN ECO-FRIENDLY AND COST-EFFECTIVE GREEN TECHNOLOGY IN REUSE OF TREATED WASTEWATER FOR AGRICULTUREPATWARDHAN RAJASHREE B., MACHCHHA POOJA K., SONAWANE MADHURI P. AND GORE SUNEETI S.Abstract Broad spectrum of pathogenic microorganisms is present in treated wastewater where they survive for days, weeks and at times months in the soil and on crops that encounter with this treated water. These pathogens may enter the food chain and may cause health hazards to animals as well as human beings. To overcome this problem an eco-friendly approach has been designed to use bacteriophages to eliminate the pathogens from treated wastewater. This study focuses on isolation and characterization of bacterial strains Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, Proteus vulgaris, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, and their specific bacteriophages from Pavana river water, Pune, Maharashtra, India. All the isolates obtained were found to be resistant to multiple antibiotics. Water samples were characterized with respect to pH, TS, TDS, TSS, DO and BOD and presence of heavy metals. Spot assay was performed as a confirmatory test for the bacteriophage and zone of clearance was observed. Phage titre was calculated, and morphology was studied. One step growth curve was performed and burst size was determined with respect to average number of progeny phage released per infected cell. The average burst size obtained were 52.13, 166, 205, 130 for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus vulgaris, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Enterococcus cloacae, respectively. Significant reduction was observed in TVC of the water sample after phage treatment. Phage treatment was also found to be effective against chlorine-resistant bacteria. Reusing the treated wastewater is an increasing global growth trend, which would be surely achieved by our novel approach by eliminating the pathogens with the help of bacteriophage treatment. |