Biodecolorization of Reactive Red Using Bacillus cereus Isolated from Oil Contaminated Soil

Manufacturing and using organic dyes produce a variety of hazardous organic compounds which can be harmful to living organisms. Azol dyes, one of the most important synthetic organic components, are widely used in a variety of industries, particularly in the textile industry. As azo dyes breakdown, aromatic amines produce mutagenic products that can cause cancer in humans and aquatic life. In order to protect the environment, it was imperative to find a biological method for degrading these dyes. In recent years, microbial biodegradation has emerged as a promising method. Different bacterial isolates from oil-contaminated soil were investigated for their ability to decolorize reactive red. Under aerobic conditions at pH 7.0 and 35 °C with 0.1 mg/mL reactive red dye concentration, the isolated potential strain showed maximum decolorization of 84 % within 24 hr. Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the isolate was identified as Bacillus cereus strain BIOS MD2. A variety of agricultural wastes were supplemented along with medium to reduce the costs of the process, and extracts of apple and chikoo peels showed better decolorization rates. UV-visible spectroscopy was used to analyze the biodegradation property of reactive red, which confirmed that Bacillus cereus successfully degraded reactive red. The present study provides a valuable insight into practical applications for the removal of textile dye from the environment.