Biodegradation of Phenol by Indigenous Bacterium Isolated from Contaminated Soil of Esfahan Steel Company Zone

Abstract

Industrial processes produce high volumes of wastewater containing organic pollutants such as phenol and its derivatives. These contaminants include materials that are serious threats for environmental, human and soils characteristics . There are lots of methods for phenol removing from contaminated soils that one of them is biodegradation. In this study with the aim of phenol biodegradation, take action to isolation of bacteria from contaminated soil of Esfahan steel factory. Some properties of soil such as pH, organic matters, electrical conductivity and phenol concentration were determined. Enrichment of isolated bacteria was done. The best indigenous bacterium was selected according to its growth in presence of 400 mg.L-1 of phenol during 24h for further biodegradation studies and molecular identification. Results showed that according to phylogenetic analysis, the best isolated bacterium was the strain of Enterobactersp. that could remove 400 mg.L-1phenol during 72 hours. The results of this study shown that indigenous bacterium can remove organic pollutant such as phenol from contaminated soil.

Keywords

• Contaminated Soil
• Steel Company
• phenol
• Indigenous Bacterium
• Biodegradation