Editorial Biotechnology in Environmental Monitoring and ...downloads.hindawi.com/Journals/Bmri/2014/235472.PdfEditorial Biotechnology in Environmental Monitoring and Pollution Abatement

EditorialBiotechnology in Environmental Monitoring andPollution Abatement

Kannan Pakshirajan,1 Eldon R. Rene,2 and Aiyagari Ramesh1

1 Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati 781039, Assam, India2 Pollution Prevention and Resource Recovery Chair Group, Department of Environmental Engineeringand Water Technology, UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Westvest 7, 2611 AX Delft, The Netherlands

Correspondence should be addressed to Kannan Pakshirajan; [email protected]

Received 9 March 2014; Accepted 9 March 2014; Published 23 April 2014

Copyright © 2014 Kannan Pakshirajan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons AttributionLicense, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properlycited.

In recent years, the demand for the use of sustainable andeco-friendly environmental processes is rapidly growing sub-jected to economic, public, and legislation pressure. Biotech-nology provides a plethora of opportunities for effectivelyaddressing issues pertaining to the monitoring, assessment,modeling, and treatment of contaminated water, air, andsolid waste streams. In this context, source tracking of envi-ronmental pollutants and process modeling using biologicalbased methods are becoming increasingly important, mainlyowing to the accuracy and robustness of such techniques.Thedifferent biotechniques available nowadays, thus, representboth well-established and novel (bio)technologies, althoughseveral aspects of their performance are still to be tested. Forinstance, the use of novel biocatalysts and reactor designs, theunderstanding of microbial community dynamics andmech-anisms occurring within a (bio)reactor, and the assessment ofthe performance of (bio)reactors during long-term operationand itsmodeling. If thesemechanisms are understood and thebarriers are overcome, novel biotechniques will potentiallychange the way users rebuild technologies for the sustainableuse of different biological processes for wastewater, air, andsolid waste treatment.

This special issue received 34 research/review articlesover a period of 6 months, of which 21 high-quality papers(62%) were accepted for publication following a doubleblind peer-review process. These accepted papers focus onthe various fundamental and applied engineering aspectsof different techniques and processes that have potential

practical implications in emerging fields of environmentalbiotechnology. This special issue highlights certain chal-lenging issues pertaining to environmental monitoring andpollution abatement that can be categorized into five thematicresearch areas.

Environmental Monitoring and Modeling. In developingcountries, water, air, and soil pollution has become a per-sisting environmental problem due to rapid industrializa-tion and urbanization. Using environmental Kuznets curve(EKC) it was observed that, during early stages of economicdevelopment in a particular region, the environment paida high price for economic growth as the human race usedtechnology to exploit all possible valuable resources. Nev-ertheless, in agricultural areas, N, P, and K compounds areeasily transported by farmland drainage and surface waterto valuable water resources resulting in the deterioration ofwater quality that warrants the use of novel biosensors tomonitor water quality. Recently, it has been proposed thatcellular-based biosensor technologies, that is, the bioelectricrecognition assay (BERA), utilize live, functional cells in a gelmatrix coupled with a sensor system that is able to measurechanges in the cellular electric properties. Cells that are ableto specifically interact with a target analyte produce a uniquepattern of electrical potential as a result of their interactionwith this analyte.

Concerning modeling, traditionally, the performance ofmany bioprocesses [1] has been modeled/predicted using

Hindawi Publishing CorporationBioMed Research InternationalVolume 2014, Article ID 235472, 4 pageshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/235472

2 BioMed Research International

process-based models that are based on mass balance prin-ciples, simple reaction kinetics, and a plug flow of water/airstream. An alternate modeling procedure consists of a datadriven approach wherein the principles of artificial intelli-gence (AI) are applied with the help of neural networks [2, 3].The concept of neural network modeling has widespreadapplications in the fields of applied biosciences and bioengi-neering. The following research papers (1–3) were acceptedunder this category.

(1) “Environmental Kuznets curve analysis of the eco-nomic development and nonpoint source pollution inthe Ningxia Yellow River irrigation districts in China”by C. Mao et al.

(2) “Back propagation neural networkmodel for predictingthe performance of immobilized cell biofilters handlinggas-phase hydrogen sulphide and ammonia” by E. R.Rene et al.

(3) “Pesticide residue screening using a novel artificialneural network combined with a bioelectric cellularbiosensor” by K. P. Ferentinos et al.

Pollutant Removal and Toxicity. Environmental pollutantssuch as heavy metals and pesticides are commonly presentin water emanating from acid mine drainage or other indus-tries and from agricultural runoffs. These toxic pollutantscan accumulate in living organisms and produce adverseeffect such as carcinogenicity and acute toxicity. Completemineralization and/or removal of these pollutants and theirtoxic byproducts can be achieved using biological processthat uses active bacterial/fungal/mixedmicrobial cultures [4].Microbial consortia have been shown to be more suitable forbioremediation of recalcitrant compounds such as pesticideresidues, as their biodiversity supports environmental sur-vival and increases the number of catabolic pathways avail-able for contaminant biodegradation. In the case of heavymetal contaminated wastewaters, biosorption has emerged asa promising low-cost methodology wherein biological cata-lysts are employed to remove and recover heavy metals fromaqueous solutions [5]. The metal removal mechanism is acomplex process that depends on the chemistry ofmetal ions,cell wall compositions of microorganisms, physiology of theorganism, and physicochemical factors like pH, temperature,time, ionic strength, and metal concentration. The followingpapers (4–8) were selected for publication under this sectionof the special issue.

(4) “Dissolution of arsenic minerals mediated by dissim-ilatory arsenate reducing bacteria: estimation of thephysiological potential for arsenic mobilization” by D.Lukasz et al.

(5) “Kinetics of molybdenum reduction to molybdenumblue by Bacillus sp. strain A. rzi” by A. R. Othman etal.

(6) “The uptake mechanism of Cd(II), Cr(VI), Cu(II),Pb(II), and Zn(II) by mycelia and fruiting bodies ofGalerina vittiformis” by D. Damodaran et al.

(7) “Toxicity of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparti-cles on green alga Chlorella vulgaris” by L. Barhoumiand D. Dewez.

(8) “Enhanced removal of a pesticides mixture by singlecultures and consortia of free and immobilized Strepto-myces strains” by M. S. Fuentes et al.

Biofuels Production. Biohydrogen production through anaer-obic fermentation is a sustainable alternative for managingthe recent (dogging) energy crisis and creating a sustain-able green environment. Fermentative hydrogen productionprocesses are technically feasible and economically cost-competitive and have large-scale commercialization impli-cations [6, 7]. Besides some of the pure microbial species,that can be used to produce biofuels, as of late, it was shownthat microbes present in the sediments of mangroves havethe capability to yield biohydrogen. Mangrove sediments areinherently rich in organic content and offer the followingadvantages: flexible substrate utilization and the simplicity ofhandling, no major storage problems, minimal preculturingrequirements, and sediments being available at low cost.Alternatively, the development of (bio)energy using marineand freshwater microalgae as a 3rd generation biomass feed-stock has also been explored recently because microalgae cangrow fast with high specific growth rates and have excellentCO2absorption capacity and better regulation of lipid and

sugar content under various culture conditions. Microalgaeexhibit a high photosynthetic efficiency and a strong capacityto adapt to the environment (e.g., high salinity, heavy metalion content, presence of toxicants, and high CO

2concentra-

tion). The following papers (9–11) describe the production ofbiohydrogen and biodiesel.

(9) “Biohydrogen production and kinetic modeling usingsediment microorganisms of Pichavaram mangroves,India” by P. Mullai et al.

(10) “Production of biodiesel from Chlorella sp. enrichedwith oyster shell extracts” by C. S. Choi et al.

(11) “Enhancement of biodiesel production from marinealga, Scenedesmus sp. through in situ transesterificationprocess associated with acidic catalyst” by G. V. Kim etal.

Microbial Products for the Environment. With increasingconcern for the natural environment, biosynthetic andbiodegradable biopolymers such as poly-𝛽-hydroxybutyrate(PHB) have attracted great interest because of their excellentbiodegradability and being environmentally benign and sus-tainable.The high production cost of PHB can be curtailed bystrain development, improving fermentation and separationprocesses, and using inexpensive carbon source. Due torecent advancements in fermentation technology and alliedsciences, alternative purification solutions are under inves-tigation, among which microbiological ways of utilizationof byproducts are very interesting and promising. Such asolution could result in better overall process productivityand facilitate the downstreamprocessing. Concerning the use

BioMed Research International 3

of enzymes, owing to its lignolytic enzyme system, the white-rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium has been appliedin many bioremediation studies [8]. Its ability to degrade avariety of pollutants is thus related to the production of ligninperoxidase andmanganese peroxidase, two lignin-modifyingenzymes generally expressed under nitrogen-limited cultureconditions, as well as to the intracellular cytochrome P450system. Another practical aspect worth highlighting in thissection is the use of an enhanced biological phosphorusremoval (EBPR) for phosphorus removal from wastewa-ters. In EBPR, alternative anaerobic and aerobic phases areadopted and polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs)with excess phosphorus accumulation ability can be enriched.During the anaerobic phase, PAOs take up organic carbonssuch as acetate and propionate and store them as intracel-lular polymers such as PHBs, with polyphosphate as theenergy source and glycogen as the reducing power source.The metabolism of PAOs and dynamics of polymers underdifferent organic carbon concentrations deserves in-depthexamination in order to elucidate the function of polymersin EBPR. Investigating the dynamics of polymers underendogenous respiration conditionswill also provide solutionsfor controlling and adjusting the EBPR performance underlow organic carbon induced shock conditions. The followingpapers (12–17) were accepted for publication under the themeof “microbial production for the environment.”

(12) “Degradation of diuron by Phanerochaete chrysospo-rium: role of ligninolytic enzymes and cytochromeP450” by J. da Silva Coelho-Moreira et al.

(13) “Dynamics of intracellular polymers in enhanced bio-logical phosphorus removal processes under differentorganic carbon concentrations” by L. Xing et al.

(14) “Microbial purification of postfermentation mediumafter 1,3-PD production from raw glycerol” by D.Szymanowska-Powałowska et al.

(15) “Rhizobium pongamiae sp. nov. from root nodules ofPongamia pinnata” by V. Kesari et al.

(16) “Persistent organic pollutants induced protein expres-sion and immunocrossreactivity by Stenotrophomonasmaltophilia PM102: a prospective bioremediating can-didate” by P. Mukherjee and P. Roy.

(17) “Poly 𝛽-hydroxybutyrate production by Bacillus sub-tilis NG220 using sugar industry wastewater” by G.Singh et al.

Eco-Efficient Bioprocesses for the Environment. Nutrient-richwastewater streams when discharged into receiving waterbodies often lead to undesirable problems such as algalblooms, eutrophication, and oxygen deficit. For such com-monly reported situations in many developing countries,advanced treatment technologies cannot be applied to treatwastewater due to the requirement of high energy and skilledlabor force, high operating and maintenance costs. Undersuch conditions, low-cost natural treatment systems can beeffectively used not only for waste treatment, but also forconserving biological communities in poor nations of the

world [9]. For the (bio)treatment of slaughterhouse wastew-ater, sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) were recommendedas one of the best options because they are capable ofremoving organic carbon, nutrients, and suspended solidsfrom wastewater in a single tank and also have low capitaland operational costs. In order to maintain the long-termperformance of bioreactors (e.g., stirred tank bioreactor), var-ious strategies to improve the oxygen transfer in bioreactorshave been proposed, for instance, dispersing a nonaqueous,organic, second liquid-phase that is immiscible to the system.The presence of this organic phase modifies the medium insuch a way that it could carry more oxygen and this approachwas found successful in the past. The organic phase hasstrong affinity for oxygen so that it can increase the apparentsolubility of oxygen in water, which in turn increases thespecific activity of microorganisms, yielding high removalof target pollutant in bioreactors. In this special issue, fourpapers (18–21) deal with the operational characteristics ofnatural and conventional bioprocesses and their advantagesto treat specific industrial wastewaters.

(18) “Enhancement of oxygen mass transfer and gas holdupusing palm oil in stirred tank bioreactors with xanthansolutions as simulated viscous fermentation broths” byS. M. Sauid et al.

(19) “Treatment of slaughter house wastewater in asequencing batch reactor: performance evaluation andbiodegradation kinetics” by P. Kundu et al.

(20) “Performance study of chromium (VI) removal in pres-ence of phenol in a continuous packed bed reactor byEscherichia coli isolated from East Calcutta wetlands”by B. Chakraborty et al.

(21) “Natural treatment systems as sustainable ecotechnolo-gies for the developing countries” byQ.Mahmood et al.

It is quite apparent from the discussions and conclusionsmade by the authors from the papers published in this specialissue, as well as other recently published scientific literaturerelated to environmental research, that there is an urgentneed to translate most of the lab-based research into field-based research in order to witness sustainable solutions topersisting environmental problems. Future research shouldfocus/address crucial issues pertaining to (i) biomarkers forenvironmental pollutants, (ii) development of newbiosensorsfor environmental monitoring, (iii) development of new bio-catalysts (bacteria, fungi, yeast, and algae) for environmentalapplications, (iv) development of innovative bioreactors forwastewater and air pollution control, and (v) studies on thesocioeconomic implications and technological evaluation ofnew bioprocesses.

We firmly believe that the collection of papers presentedin this special issue will stimulate interest within the globalresearch community and would help peers in their researchpursuits.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to all the authors for their generous supportand dedication and for submitting high-quality papers to

4 BioMed Research International

this special issue. The final outcome of this special issuewould not have been possible without the support of expertreviewers for contributing their knowledge and providingcritical insight during the review process. We would also liketo thank the respective organizations, IIT Guwahati, India,and UNESCO-IHE, The Netherlands, for supporting oureditorial dissemination and outreach activities.

Kannan PakshirajanEldon R. Rene

Aiyagari Ramesh

References

[1] E. R. Rene, M. E. Lopez, M. C. Veiga, and C. Kennes, “Steady-and transient-state operation of a two-stage bioreactor for thetreatment of a gaseous mixture of hydrogen sulphide, methanoland 𝛼-pinene,” Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology,vol. 85, pp. 336–348, 2010.

[2] E. R. Rene, S. M. Maliyekkal, L. Philip, and T. Swaminathan,“Back-propagation neural network for performance predictionin trickling bed air biofilter,” International Journal of Environ-ment and Pollution, vol. 28, no. 3-4, pp. 382–401, 2006.

[3] E. R. Rene, J. H. Kim, and H. S. Park, “An intelligent neuralnetwork model for evaluating performance of immobilizedcell biofilter treating hydrogen sulphide vapors,” InternationalJournal of Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 5, no. 3,pp. 287–296, 2008.

[4] N. K. Sahoo, K. Pakshirajan, and P. K. Ghosh, “Biodegradationof 4-bromophenol by Arthrobacter chlorophenolicus A6 in anewly designed packed bed reactor,” Journal of Bioscience andBioengineering, vol. 115, no. 2, pp. 182–188, 2013.

[5] K. Pakshirajan, M. Izquierdo, and P. N. L. Lens, “Arsenic(III)removal at low concentrations by biosorption using Phane-rochaete chrysosporium pellets,” Separation Science and Technol-ogy, vol. 48, pp. 1111–1112, 2013.

[6] K. Pakshirajan and J. Mal, “Biohydrogen production usingnative carbon monoxide converting anaerobic microbial con-sortium predominantly Petrobacter sp.,” International Journal ofHydrogen Energy, vol. 38, pp. 16020–16028, 2013.

[7] P. Mullai, M. K. Yogeswari, and K. Sridevi, “Optimisationand enhancement of biohydrogen production using nickelnanoparticles—a novel approach,” Bioresource Technology, vol.141, pp. 212–219, 2013.

[8] K. Pakshirajan and S. Kheria, “Continuous treatmentof coloured industry wastewater using immobilizedPhanerochaete chrysosporium in a rotating biological contactorreactor,” Journal of Environmental Management, vol. 101, pp.118–123, 2012.

[9] Y. T. Tu, P. C. Chiang, J. Yang, S. H. Chen, and C. M. Kao,“Application of a constructed wetland system for pollutedstream remediation,” Journal of Hydrology, vol. 510, pp. 70–78,2014.

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Editorial Biotechnology in Environmental Monitoring and ...downloads.hindawi.com/Journals/Bmri/2014/235472.PdfEditorial Biotechnology in Environmental Monitoring and Pollution Abatement