CHARACTERIZATION OF A NEWLY ISOLATED AZO-DYE DEGRADING KLEBSIELLA SP. STRAIN RGUDBI01

Azo-dyes such as crystal violet are commonly used ingredient in all types of dying industries which more often eventually reach water and soil due to washing and disposal practices. They are non-biodegradable inside higher organisms and are less biodegradable due to their xenobiotic character. However, some of the microbes exhibit their extensive potential to degrade such recalcitrants. This study reports the isolation and characterization of a newly isolated Klebsiella sp. strain RGUDBI01 from petroleum-contaminated soil samples. The species-level identification was done by 16S rDNA gene sequencing (ON945611.1). The isolate exhibited 88% azo-dye degradation just after 3 days of incubation under optimized conditions. The treated samples exhibited a significant increase in the growth of Cicer arietinum seeds compared to the control group. This result suggests that the dye-contaminated samples, after treatment, displayed non-cytotoxic behavior. The strain also showed its potential to tolerate and withstand a wide range of pH, salinity, and substrate concentration which supports its futuristic environmental application. In addition to the above, the strain could also produce biosurfactants with ʋC=C, ʋC=C-H, and ʋC-C functional groups which were evaluated based on FTIR spectral analysis.