Detoxification Potential of Pseudomonas fluorescens SM1 Strain for Remediation of Major Toxicants in Indian Water Bodies

The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the detoxification potential of Pseudomonas fluorescens SM1 strain immobilized in calcium alginate beads for some major toxicants of Indian water bodies. The toxicants selected in this study were benzene hexachloride, mancozeb, 2,4-dichloro-phenoxyacetic acid (pesticides); phenol, catechol, cresol (phenolics); and Cd++, Cr(VI), Cu++ and Ni++ (heavy metals), which were taken as mixtures up to a concentration of roughly twice that usually found in highly polluted sites. Allium cepa phytotoxicity test, Ames fluctuation test and plasmid nicking assay were employed to estimate the phytotoxicity and genotoxicity of the model water containing the test toxicants under different combinations before and after exposure to our bioremediation-cum-detoxification system. The IC50 of the model water containing all the test toxicants, treated with the immobilized SM1 cells, was recorded to be 0.7× compared to 0.06× for the same but untreated water sample, enhancing the IC50 value by 12-fold. The IC25 of the test heavy metal mixture only could enhance from 0.07 to 1.30× (18-fold). The IC25 of the test pesticide mixture alone was increased from 0.07 to 1.71× (24-fold). The IC25 values for the mixture of test phenolics were 0.07× and 2.18× under the pre- and post-treatment conditions, respectively, exhibiting a 31-fold increase. A mutational induction (Mi) corresponding to the 0.5 value in the Ames fluctuation test was used to evaluate the mutagenicity of the test model water containing all the toxicants before and after exposure to the immobilized SM1 cell system. The Mi (0.5) value with the TA98 tester strain was estimated to be 0.08× for the untreated and 0.6× for the treated model water, whereas the same index was calculated to be 0.48× and 1.8×, respectively, for the TA100 strain. A remarkable improvement in the quality of the test water as a result of exposure to this bioremediating system was observed in terms of the absence of the linear form of the plasmid contrary to the visible linearization with the untreated model water. In view of the above findings, it is quite clear that the test of P. fluorescens SM1 strain immobilized in the calcium alginate beads could be used as an efficient system of bioremediation and for water decontamination strategies owing to its remarkable detoxification potential.