Abstract

Autochthonous Bacterial Community in Remediation of Azo Dyes: A Review

Author(s): T. Sheela*, Baby Jooju and S. Senthil Kumar

Azo dyes are one of the most widely used chemical class of dyes and colorants of textile industry used to color natural and synthetic fibers. Structurally molecules of azo dyes contain two adjacent nitrogen atoms be-tween carbon atoms. About 60-70% of dyes used in the food and textile industry are of azo dyes as theyprovide strong and variety of colours. Apart from holding a key position in textile industry, azo dyes create several problems as pollutants to living beings and environment. Their presence in textile effluent is a major problem due to their adverse effects. Several of the degradation products of the azo dyes have been found to be mutagenic and carcino-genic. There are number of proposed remedial measures for the treatment of waste water effluents containing azo dyes generated by various industries. Bioremediation is however, proved to be very effective which includes the use of living organisms, mostly microorganismsand plants, to degrade and reduce or detoxify waste products and pollu-tants. In addition, bioremediation is also effective in keeping living beings and the environment safe. Use of autoch-thonous bacterial communities in bioremediation of azo dyes has beeninitiated recently in which bacteria of indige-nous origin are screened and utilized. The present review article summaries about azo dyes, their harmful effects on living beings and environment and bioremediation by autochthonous bacterial communities.

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