A kinetic study of 4-chlorophenol biodegradation by the novel isolated Bacillus subtilis in batch shake flask

Here in this work, a 4-chlorophenol (4-CP)-degrading bacterial strain Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) MF447840.1 was isolated from the drain outside the Hyundai car service center, Agartala, Tripura, India. 16S rDNA technique used carried out for genomic recognition of the bacterial species. Isolated bacterial strain was phylogenetically related with B. subtilis. This strain was capable of breaking down both phenol and 4-CP at the concentration of 1,000 mg/L. Also, the isolated strain can able to metabolize five diverse aromatic molecules such as 2-chlorophenol, 2,4-dichlorophenol, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol, 4-nitrophenol, and pentachlorophenol for their growth. An extensive investigation was performed to portray the kinetics of cell growth along with 4-CP degradation in the batch study utilizing 4-CP as substrate. Various unstructured models were applied to evaluate the intrinsic kinetic factors. Levenspiel's model demonstrates a comparatively enhanced R² value (0.997) amongst every analyzed model. The data of specific growth rate (μ), saturation constant (K_S), and Y_X/S were 0.11 h^-1, 39.88 mg/L, along with 0.53 g/g, correspondingly. The isolated strain degrades 1,000 mg/L of 4-CP within 40 h. Therefore, B. subtilis MF447840.1 was considered a potential candidate for 4-CP degradation.