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Biodegradation of phenol and 4-chlorophenol by the yeast Candida tropicalis

Biodegradation volume 18, pages 719–729 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Biodegradation of phenol and 4-chlorophenol (4-cp) using a pure culture of Candida tropicalis was studied. The results showed that C. tropicalis could degrade 2,000 mg l−1 phenol alone and 350 mg l−1 4-cp alone within 66 and 55 h, respectively. The capacity of the strain to degrade phenol was obviously higher than that to degrade 4-cp. In the dual-substrate system, 4-cp intensely inhibited phenol biodegradation. Phenol beyond 800 mg l−1 could not be degraded in the presence of 350 mg l−1 4-cp. Comparatively, low-concentration phenol from 100 to 600 mg l−1 supplied a sole carbon and energy source for C. tropicalis in the initial phase of biodegradation and accelerated the assimilation of 4-cp, which resulted in the fact that 4-cp biodegradation velocity was higher than that without phenol. And the capacity of C. tropicalis to degrade 4-cp was increased up to 420 mg l−1 with the presence of 100–160 mg l−1 phenol. In addition, the intrinsic kinetics of cell growth and substrate degradation were investigated with phenol and 4-cp as single and mixed substrates in batch cultures. The results illustrated that the models proposed adequately described the dynamic behaviors of biodegradation by C. tropicalis.

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Abbreviations

4-cp:

4-chlorophenol

HPLC:

high performance liquid chromatography

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support provided by the Key National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 20336030), Science and Technology Innovative Talents Foundation (No. RC2006QN015018), Program for Science and Technology Development of Tianjin (No. 043185111-20), Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University, Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University, and Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities (No. B06006).

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, P.R. China

    Yan Jiang, Jianping Wen & Zongding Hu

  2. School of Life Science and Chemistry, Harbin University, Harbin, 150016, P.R. China

    Yan Jiang

  3. Harbin Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, Harbin, 150056, P.R. China

    Li Lan

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  1. Yan Jiang
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  2. Jianping Wen
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  3. Li Lan
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  4. Zongding Hu
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Correspondence to Jianping Wen.

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Jiang, Y., Wen, J., Lan, L. et al. Biodegradation of phenol and 4-chlorophenol by the yeast Candida tropicalis . Biodegradation 18, 719–729 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10532-007-9100-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10532-007-9100-3

Keywords

  • 4-Chlorophenol
  • Biodegradation
  • Candida tropicalis
  • Kinetics
  • Phenol