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• Ugbenyen, A
• Cosa, S
• Mabinya, L
• Babalola, O
• Aghdasi, F
• Okoh, A
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• Ugbenyen, A
• Cosa, S
• Mabinya, L
• Babalola, O
• Aghdasi, F
• Okoh, A
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• Ugbenyen, A
• Cosa, S
• Mabinya, L
• Babalola, O
• Aghdasi, F
• Okoh, A

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Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2012, 9(6), 2108-2120; doi:10.3390/ijerph9062108

Article

Thermostable Bacterial Bioflocculant Produced by Cobetia Spp. Isolated from Algoa Bay (South Africa)

Anthony Ugbenyen ¹ , Sekelwa Cosa ¹ , Leonard Mabinya ¹ , Olubukola O. Babalola ² , Farhad Aghdasi ³  and Anthony Okoh ^1,*

¹ Applied and Environmental Microbiology Research Group (AEMREG), Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Fort Hare, Private Bag X1314, Alice 5700, South Africa ² Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Science and Technology, North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, Private Bag X2046, Mmabatho 2735, South Africa ³ Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Centre, University of Fort Hare, Private Bag X1314, Alice 5700, South Africa

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 8 May 2012; in revised form: 29 May 2012 / Accepted: 30 May 2012 / Published: 4 June 2012

Download PDF Full-Text [237 KB, uploaded 4 June 2012 10:02 CEST]

Abstract: A novel bioflocculant-producing bacteria was isolated from sediment samples of Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa and the effect of culture conditions on the bioflocculant production was investigated. Analysis of the partial nucleotide sequence of the 16S rDNA of the bacteria revealed 99% similarity to Cobetia sp. L222 and the sequence was deposited in GenBank as Cobetia sp. OAUIFE (accession number JF799092). Cultivation condition studies revealed that bioflocculant production was optimal with an inoculum size of 2% (v/v), initial pH of 6.0, Mn²⁺ as the metal ion, and glucose as the carbon source. Metal ions, including Na⁺, K⁺, Li⁺, Ca²⁺and Mg²⁺ stimulated bioflocculant production, resulting in flocculating activity of above 90%. This crude bioflocculant is thermally stable, with about 78% of its flocculating activity remaining after heating at 100 °C for 25 min. Analysis of the purified bioflocculant revealed it to be an acidic extracellular polysaccharide.

Keywords: Cobetia sp.; OAUIFE; bioflocculant; acidic polysaccharide; flocculating activity; thermostable

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