By Sundararajan Padmanabhan
New Delhi: A new eco-friendly method could be soon available to address pollution due to azo dyes in wastewater from textile units.
Researchers at the Goa-based National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) have identified a bacterium that could be used to degrade the dyes. In a recent study published in journal Current Science, they have reported that a bacterium called Yangia Pacifica is able to decolorize Amido Black and Congo red Azo dyes by over 96 per cent in seven days. The bacterium was derived from a marine sponge called Cinachyrella cavernosa.
Azo dyes are widely used in textile industry and effluent from textile units is found contain high concentration of them, sometimes upto 300 mg per litre. These dyes are highly toxic and need special efforts to degrade them. In recent years, efforts have been made to develop remediation strategies that are particularly based on biological agents instead of chemicals. Studies had so far focused on individual bacterium as also consortia of microorganisms from soil, decomposed plant parts and industrial effluents.
Microbes associated with marine sponges are known to produce potent bioactive compounds but they have not been explored for dealing with Azo dyes. The present study fills that gap.
