Phenol biodegradation by the thermoacidophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus 98/2 in a fed-batch bioreactor

• Published in: Biodegradation (Dordrecht) Vol. 22; no. 3; pp. 475 - 484
• Main Authors: Christen, Pierre, Davidson, Sylvain, Combet-Blanc, Yannick, Auria, Richard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.06.2011; Springer; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag
• Subjects: Applied geology; Aquatic Pollution; Batch processes; Biodegradation; Biodegradation of pollutants; Biodegradation, Environmental; Biological and medical sciences; Biomass; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Bioreactors; Bioreactors - microbiology; Bioremediation; Biotechnology; Carbon dioxide; Carbon Dioxide - metabolism; Dextrose; Dissolved oxygen; Earth Sciences; Environment and pollution; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geochemistry; Glucose; Glucose - metabolism; Industrial applications and implications. Economical aspects; Kinetics; Life Sciences; Microbiology; Original Paper; Oxidation; Oxygen; Oxygen demand; Phenol - chemistry; Phenol - metabolism; Phenology; Phenols; Redox potential; Sciences of the Universe; Soil Science & Conservation; Sulfolobus solfataricus - chemistry; Sulfolobus solfataricus - genetics; Sulfolobus solfataricus - growth & development; Sulfolobus solfataricus - metabolism; Terrestrial Pollution; Waste Management/Waste Technology; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water pollution; Water Pollution Control; Biodegradation; Yields; Phenol; Kinetics; Kinetic; Archaeobacteria; Sulfolobus solfataricus; Sulfolobaceae; Bioreactor; Phenols; Bacteria; Yield; Sulfolobales; Semicontinuous
• ISSN: 0923-9820; 1572-9729
• DOI: 10.1007/s10532-010-9420-6

Toxic at low concentrations, phenol is one of the most common organic pollutants in air and water. In this work, phenol biodegradation was studied in extreme conditions (80°C, pH = 3.2) in a 2.7 l bioreactor with the thermoacidophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus 98/2. The strain was first acclimatized to phenol on a mixture of glucose (2000 mg l −1 ) and phenol (94 mg l −1 ) at a constant dissolved oxygen concentration of 1.5 mg l −1 . After a short lag-phase, only glucose was consumed. Phenol degradation then began while glucose was still present in the reactor. When glucose was exhausted, phenol was used for respiration and then for biomass build-up. After several batch runs (phenol < 365 mg l −1 ), specific growth rate (μ X ) was 0.034 ± 0.001 h −1 , specific phenol degradation rate (q P ) was 57.5 ± 2 mg g −1  h −1 , biomass yield (Y X/P ) was 52.2 ± 1.1 g mol −1 , and oxygen yield factor was 9.2 ± 0.2 g mol −1 . A carbon recovery close to 100% suggested that phenol was exclusively transformed into biomass (35%) and CO 2 (65%). Molar phenol oxidation constant was calculated from stoichiometry of phenol oxidation and introducing experimental biomass and CO 2 conversion yields on phenol, leading to values varying between 4.78 and 5.22 mol mol −1 . Respiratory quotient was about 0.84 mol mol −1 , very close to theoretical value (0.87 mol mol −1 ). Carbon dioxide production, oxygen demand and redox potential, monitored on-line, were good indicators of growth, substrate consumption and exhaustion, and can therefore be usefully employed for industrial phenol bioremediation in extreme environments.