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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbiotechnology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1458369

Biosurfactant assisted bio-electrokinetic enhanced remediation of heavy metal contaminated soil

Provisionally accepted
Jayaraman Narenkumar Jayaraman Narenkumar 1Bhaskar Das Bhaskar Das 1Subramani Abilaji Subramani Abilaji 2Sathishkumar Kuppusamy Sathishkumar Kuppusamy 3Mohamad AlSalhi Mohamad AlSalhi 4Sandhanasamy Devanesan Sandhanasamy Devanesan 4Rajasekar Aruliah Rajasekar Aruliah 2Tabarak Malik Tabarak Malik 5,6*
  • 1 Department of Environmental & Water Resources Engineering, School of Civil Egineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
  • 2 Environmental Molecular Microbiology Research Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, Thiruvalluvar University, Serkkadu, Vellore-632115, India., Vellore, India
  • 3 Center for Global Health Research, Saveetha Medical College & Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
  • 4 Department of Physics, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • 5 Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia
  • 6 Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Environmental soil contamination is a serious problem for human worldwide as it causes many diseases. Methods: The present study concentrates on utilizing biosurfactants produced by P. stutzeri NA3 and B. cereus EN6 as an electrolyte for removing chromium from contaminated soil using the electrokinetic process. Results: As a result, biosurfactants produced by P.stutzeri NA3 and B. cereus EN6 being a lipopeptide increases heavy metal mobility in the EK process. The chromium removal efficiency of a novel electrolyte (biosurfactants) in the EK process was compared with that of NA3 and EN6 biosurfactants.The EK results revealed a maximum chromium removal of 75% and 70% by NA3 and EN6, respectively, at the end of 7 days. Discussion: The biosurfactant aids in the breaking down of the heavy metals that are present deeper into the soil matrix. From the Metagenomics analysis it was identified that biosurfactant changes the microbial community with an enhanced ability to remove heavy. The phytotoxicity assay confirms that NA3 biosurfactant solution showed 95% seed germination and it has the ability to lower hazardous pollutants in the soil. Conclusion: The application of biosurfactant as potent electrolyte for remediation of hazardous pollutants in integrated process. Overall, the results of this study suggest that biosurfactant can serve as an economical and efficient electrolyte in the EK process to remove chromium from polluted soil.

    Keywords: B. cereus EN6, biosurfactant, electrolyte, Electrokinetic process, P.stutzeri NA3

    Received: 02 Jul 2024; Accepted: 23 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Narenkumar, Das, Abilaji, Kuppusamy, AlSalhi, Devanesan, Aruliah and Malik. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Tabarak Malik, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.