Biodegradation of aromatic compounds by microalgae

Abstract

The microbial degradation of aromatic pollutants has been well characterized over a period of more than 30 years. The microbes of most interest have been bacteria and fungi. Only relatively recently has the question of how algae figure in the catabolism of these compounds attracted a degree of interest. The aim of this review is to highlight the biodegradative capabilities of microalgae on aromatic compounds, ranging from simple monocyclic to more complex polycyclic pollutants. This paper will briefly encompass studies which have investigated the growth on and the oxidation of these compounds by algae, as well as a more detailed characterization of the catabolic sequences involved in the transformation of these compounds. z Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 3 7 8 -1 0 9 7 ( 9 8 ) 0 0 5 4 4 -8

ORGANIC CARBON SUPPLEMENTATION OF STERILIZED MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER IS ESSENTIAL FOR HETEROTROPHIC GROWTH AND REMOVING AMMONIUM BY THE MICROALGA CHLORELLA VULGARIS1

“…These compounds include humic material, polysaccharides, polyphenols, peptides, proteins, lipids, large fatty acids, synthetic detergents (Qualls and Haines 1991), and chemical derivatives of many of those compounds that the microalgae cannot metabolize. Microalgae, as unicellular plants, can use only relatively simple molecules, such as nitrogen compounds, sugars, organic and amino acids, and several aromatic compounds (Bollman and Robinson 1977, Kaplan et al 1986, Semple et al 1999, Lee 2004.…”

Evaluation of biologically mediated changes in oil sands naphthenic acid composition by Chlamydomonas reinhardtii using negative‐ion electrospray orbitrap mass spectrometry

“…Species of algae, bacteria, and emergent macrophytes can contribute to the biotransformation and dispersal of NAFCs (Armstrong et al 2008, Headley et al 2009, Quesnel et al 2011. A number of studies have examined the use of algae for the bioremediation of similarly complex organic mixtures such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs; Semple et al 1999, Juhasz and Naidu 2000, El-Sheekh et al 2013: specifically, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in axenic culture exhibits tolerance to, and enhances the degradation of a variety of cyclic, and substituted-cyclic PAHs including: phenol and catechol (Ellis 1977), pyrene (Lei et al 2002), 2-amino-4nitrophenol (Hirooka et al 2006), and benzoic compounds substituted with N, S, and Cl (Gutenkauf et al 1998). While these compounds are not NAs, they illustrate the potential of Chlamydomonas spp.…”

Microalgae as biocatalyst in simultaneous photodegradation of antibiotics and hormones

“…12 The use of photocatalysis enhanced with microalgae has been proposed by some authors. [13][14][15][16][17] Particularly, the addition of transition metals and microalgae to an irradiated system could enhance the degradation of contaminants through the increased photoproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and radicals. Thus the objective in this work was to optimize the UV photocatalysis removal of antibiotic ciprofloxacin in synthetic wastewater through the addition of Fe 2+ and sonicated microalgae biomass.…”