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Processes
Special Issues
Exploring the Emerging and Newest Biodegradation, Bioremediation and Biological Treatment...
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Exploring the Emerging and Newest Biodegradation, Bioremediation and Biological Treatment Processes of Pollutants

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Biological Processes and Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 January 2024) | Viewed by 2767

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Lukhanyo Mekuto

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
Interests: bioprocess engineering; biotechnologies; biological wastewater treatment; biorecovery of metals from secondary sources of waste; production of value-added products from the utilization of lignocellulosic materials through fermentation processes; and biotransformation of expired pharmaceuticals for various medical applications
Dr. Nobanathi Maxakato

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
Interests: fuel cells; nanotechnology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Emerging methods have been developed to enhance the treatment of various pollutants in soil and water. These methods have been largely under-represented in the literature, and include, amongst others, the use of microbial fuel cells, electro-bioremediation and the use of new bioreactor systems to treat pollutants of interest. In addition, there has been minimal research directed towards resource recovery from the biological treatment of pollutants, including the metabolite detection and profiling of the biodegradation of by/end products and how these products can be utilized for various applications. Furthermore, there has been an emerging interest in the utilization of artificial intelligence systems in pollutant remediation and how these methods make it easier for researchers to predict and/or monitor the performance of these systems. This also includes the utilization of biosensors in these systems to monitor pollutant degradation, including the use of analytical instruments such as fluorescence spectroscopy.

Recently, the use of omics techniques in pollutant treatment has gained popularity due to the exponential drop in the cost of next-generation sequencing. As a result, these techniques are utilized to elucidate the underlying mechanisms in the treatment of pollutants. It is important to understand these mechanisms since researchers would be able to determine the pathways that are followed by specific organisms in the degradation process and how omics methods can be used to accelerate such processes. As a result, this Special Issue on “Exploring the Emerging and Newest Biodegradation, Bioremediation and Biological Treatment Processes of Pollutants” aims to explore the utilization and application of the emerging and new biological treatment methods to address various environmental challenges. Topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Development of recent biological methods in contaminant treatment.
  • Use of artificial intelligence systems in biological pollutant treatment.
  • Resource recovery and metabolite profiling from biological treatment methods.
  • Use of biosensors and spectroscopy during bioremediation.

Dr. Lukhanyo Mekuto
Dr. Nobanathi Maxakato
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biodegradation
  • microbial fuel cells
  • electro-bioremediation
  • artificial intelligence
  • omics
  • microalgae
  • biosensors
  • resource recovery
  • metabolite profiling
  • bioreactors

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 2091 KiB  
Article
Untargeted LC-QTOF-MS Analysis of Metabolites Produced by Penicillium brevicompactum during the Bioconversion of Ganoderic Acid A
by Vizelle Naidoo, Vuyo Mavumengwana, Kudzanai Tapfuma, Ndiwanga F. Rasifudi and Lukhanyo Mekuto
Processes 2023, 11(10), 2963; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11102963 - 12 Oct 2023
Viewed by 771
Abstract
The repurposing of expired drugs through bioconversion remains one of the most crucial research milestones, as this practice reduces drug contamination while producing compounds of significance. The present study investigated the bioconversion of ganoderic acid A (GAA) using Penicillium brevicompactum over a period [...] Read more.
The repurposing of expired drugs through bioconversion remains one of the most crucial research milestones, as this practice reduces drug contamination while producing compounds of significance. The present study investigated the bioconversion of ganoderic acid A (GAA) using Penicillium brevicompactum over a period of 3, 6 and 9 days. The GAA intensity reduced from 22,099 cps on day 0 to 11,040, 4700 and 18,126 cps on day 3, 6 and 9, respectively, thus demonstrating the degradation of GAA over time. The produced metabolites that were recovered using ethyl acetate as a solvent were determined using LC-QTOF-MS. P. brevicompactum produced a variety of compounds in the absence of GAA, while in its presence, it was observed that P. brevicompactum was able to convert GAA and produced ganomastenol A/B/D, vitamin E succinate, and aminopregnane on day 3, while on day 6, armillaripin and ganolucidic acid A were produced. After 9 days of operation, vitamin E succinate, ganolucidic acid A and lucilactaene were produced. The present study is the first report on the ability of P. brevicompactum to bioconvert GAA. The identified metabolites have been established to possess bioactivity against various ailments, thus contributing to the discovery of new drugs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Emerging and Newest Biodegradation, Bioremediation and Biological Treatment Processes of Pollutants)
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15 pages, 15167 KiB  
Article
Dual Role of Sugarcane Waste in Benthic Microbial Fuel to Produce Energy with Degradation of Metals and Chemical Oxygen Demand
by Ghada Mohamed Aleid, Anoud Saud Alshammari, Asma D. Alomari, Hanadi A. Almukhlifi, Akil Ahmad and Asim Ali Yaqoob
Processes 2023, 11(4), 1060; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11041060 - 31 Mar 2023
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 1547
Abstract
One of the most advanced systems of microbial fuel cells is the benthic microbial fuel cell (BMFC). Despite several developments, this strategy still has a number of significant flaws, such as instable organic substrate. Waste material (sugarcane) is used as a substrate in [...] Read more.
One of the most advanced systems of microbial fuel cells is the benthic microbial fuel cell (BMFC). Despite several developments, this strategy still has a number of significant flaws, such as instable organic substrate. Waste material (sugarcane) is used as a substrate in this work to address the organic substrate instability. The process was operated continuously for 70 days. A level of 300 mV was achieved after 33 days of operation, while the degradation efficiencies of Pb (II), Cd (II), and Cr (III) were more than 90%. More than 90% of the removed chemical oxygen demand (COD) was also recorded. The measured power density was 3.571 mW/m2 at 1000 external resistance with 458 internal resistance. This demonstrates that electrons are effectively transported throughout the operation. The Bacillus strains are the most dominant bacterial community on the surface of the anode. This research’s mechanism, which involves metal ion degradation, is also explained. Finally, parameter optimization indicated that pH 7 works efficiently. In addition to that, there are some future perspectives and concluding remarks enclosed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Emerging and Newest Biodegradation, Bioremediation and Biological Treatment Processes of Pollutants)
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