Concocted bacterial consortium for the detoxification and mineralization of azoic-cum-sulfonic textile mill effluent

A bacterial consortium, comprising of three isolates; Achromobacter xylosoxidans strain APZ, Klebsiella pneumoniae strain AHM and Bacillus mannanilyticus strain AVS was concocted using the mixture design (MD) matrix. The concocted consortium was employed to degrade and mineralize a textile mill effluent (TME) having sulfone and azo groups. The average mineralization rate (AMRTME) of the liberated aromatic amines were more rapid than that of the individual strains, among them K. pneumoniae strain AHM was predominant. The analytical techniques confirmed that TME decolorization was due to biodegradation by the extracellular oxidoreductases, induced by the bacterial consortium. The azoic groups of the TME and the sulfones were not found in the treated solution which was analyzed by the mass spectral analyses. The phyto-toxicological parameters revealed the reduced toxic nature of the biotransformed products.