Abstrakt: |
Agriculture, industry, urbanization, and population growth lead to the spread of countless pollutants to the environment. Environmental pollution is one of the biggest problems faced by humanity. There are numerous chemicals (heavy metals, dyes, detergents, toxic compounds with aromatic rings, etc.) causing environmental pollution. For example, the use of heavy metals in industrial, medical, and technological sectors causes negative effects on the environment and human health. Chemical methods are not found to be effective for low concentrations of heavy metal pollution, and can also cause the formation of toxic sludge, which is itself a pollutant. Biological methods are preferred instead of chemical methods in heavy metal removal. In the biological treatment methods, microorganisms capable of bioremediation capacity are used. In the current study, bioremediation of Ni(II) by thermophile Cyanobacterium aponinum was investigated. The optimum pH was 9 corresponding to the highest heavy metal bioremoval capacity. The efficiency of bioremediation ranged from 32 to 83% in samples with Ni(II). C. aponinum tolerated all the temperatures (25, 35, and 45°C) tested in the study in the media with Ni(II). In addition, the highest bioremediation capacity was found at 45°C. The increment of biomass concentration affected bioremoval efficiencies positively. In samples with 40% (v/v) biomass, the highest yield was 83% in media with 15.9 mg/L Ni(II) at 45°C. The maximum specific heavy metal removal (qmax) had its highest value as 11.8 mg/g in samples with 14.6 mg/L Ni(II) at 45°C. There are apparently no other studies investigating heavy metal bioremediation by thermophile C. aponinum under different environmental conditions. The data showed that C. aponinum is suitable for effective treatment processes of wastewaters, including Ni(II). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |