Study of a Bacterial Coculture for Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylene Degradation

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dc.contributor.advisorBrar, Satinder K.
dc.contributor.authorHernandez Ospina, Diego Alejandro
dc.date.accessioned2025-04-10T10:53:01Z
dc.date.available2025-04-10T10:53:01Z
dc.date.copyright2024-12-16
dc.date.issued2025-04-10
dc.date.updated2025-04-10T10:53:01Z
dc.degree.disciplineCivil Engineering
dc.degree.levelMaster's
dc.degree.nameMASc - Master of Applied Science
dc.description.abstractApproximately one-quarter of the Canadian population relies on groundwater for daily activities. However, the expanding economy and increased human activities have driven a higher demand for petroleum hydrocarbons, resulting in elevated levels of hazardous pollutants like Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene (BTEX) in the environment, which are well-documented for their carcinogenic properties and alarming risk to public health and wildlife protection in the country. This study explores the potential of a co-culture of S. fonticola and M. esteraromaticum for the effective degradation of BTEX compounds. The obtained results showed a total BTEX degradation of 47%, 45% and 42% by the coculture, M. esteraromaticum and S. fonticola, respectively. Furthermore, the bacterial co-culture showed higher benzene (99%) and toluene (71%), ethylbenzene (85%) and xylene (62%) degradation compared to the individual strains over 42 hours. This study reveals coculture potential for both BTEX multi-compound degradation as well as benzene and toluene individual degradation. Future studies are recommended to further enhance BTEX degradation using coculture by testing multiple inducers, and immobilization materials (e.g. biochar) in varied natural settings (e.g. temperature, pH, salinity, BTEX concentration) while exploring mechanistic pathways and cometabolism occurrence among BTEX compounds. Finally, this co-culture shows a prospect for other studies which helps to advance and offer more sustainable and effective solutions for on-site BTEX remediation.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10315/42837
dc.languageen
dc.rightsAuthor owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.
dc.subject.classificationBiostimulation
dc.subject.keywordsBacterial coculture; S. fonticola; M. esteraromaticum; BTEX biodegradation; Wastewater treatment; bioremediation; Aromatic hydrocarbons; cometabolism; oxidative stress; biostimulation.
dc.subject.keywordsS. fonticola
dc.subject.keywordsM. esteraromaticum
dc.subject.keywordsBTEX biodegradation
dc.subject.keywordsWastewater treatment
dc.subject.keywordsBioremediation
dc.subject.keywordsAromatic hydrocarbons
dc.subject.keywordsCometabolism
dc.subject.keywordsOxidative stress
dc.titleStudy of a Bacterial Coculture for Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylene Degradation
dc.typeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation

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