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ENHANCED DEGRADATION OF PHENOL IN FLOATING TREATMENT WETLANDS BY PLANT-BACTERIAL SYNERGISM
Saleem, H., K. Rehman, M. Arslan, and M. Afzal.
International Journal of Phytoremediation 20(7):692-698(2018)

Plant-bacterial synergism was established in floating treatment wetlands (FTWs) in an attempt to maximize the removal of phenol from contaminated water. The FTWs employed a common wetland plant, Typha domingensis, vegetated on a floating mat and augmented with three phenol-degrading bacterial strains: Acinetobacter lwofii ACRH76, Bacillus cereus LORH97, and Pseudomonas sp. LCRH90. All the strains are known to have phenol-reducing properties and grow well in FTWs. T. domingensis was able to remove a small amount of phenol from the contaminated water, while bacterial augmentation enhanced the removal potential, i.e., 0.146 g/m2/d versus 0.166 g/m2/d, respectively. Plant biomass also increased in the presence of bacterial consortia, and inoculated bacteria displayed successful colonization/survival in the plant rhizosphere and root and shoot interior. The highest reduction in chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), and total organic carbon (TOC) also was achieved by the combined application of plants and bacteria. The study demonstrates the improved remediation effectiveness of plant-bacterial synergism in FTWs. See more on this work at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1319562X18300329.



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