• Dr. DHANYA V

Recalcitrant xenobiotics compounds are non-degradable and resistant to being broken down through chemical processes. Therefore these xenobiotics are treated using microorganisms into smaller, more manageable set of compounds. The chemical nature of these organic compounds has reflective influence on the abilities of microorganisms to metabolise them. The monoaromatic hydrocarbon benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX) are the most cited and important class of environmental contaminant because of their recognized toxicity. A noval bacterial consortium of Bacillus megaterium, Enterobacter aerogenes and Raoultella sp was constructed by soil enrichment technique. A pH of 7 and a substrate concentration 250 µl of 5 % benzene, toluene and xylene with the consortium constituted by mixing equal proportions of all the three bacterial isolates were found to be optimum for the biodegradation. Degradation of BTX by the consortium was analysed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT/IR). FT/IR spectra clearly suggested the complete removal of toxic chemicals from the medium. The molecular studies were done by isolating 21.2 and 5.1kbp plasmids from Bacillus megaterium and 21.2kbp plasmid from Raoultella sp. Biodegradation with microorganisms offers a very promising approach in terms of cost-effectiveness and elimination of secondary pollutions. Hence the present study with the isolated bacterial isolates can be used for the better removal of benzene, toluene and xylene from

"BIODEGRADATION OF BENZENE, TOLUENE AND XYLENE BY A FORMULATED BACTERIAL CONSORTIUM", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 2, page no.733-739, February-2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1902800.pdf

"BIODEGRADATION OF BENZENE, TOLUENE AND XYLENE BY A FORMULATED BACTERIAL CONSORTIUM", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 2, page no. pp733-739, February-2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1902800.pdf