A comparative study between a pure strain and a mixed consortium for utilization of carbon–sources in perchlorate biodegradation

A comparative study between pure strain and a mixed culture isolated from wastewater treatment plant was done for carbon-source utilization during perchlorate degradation in batch system. Wide varieties of carbon-source which are commonly utilized by microbes were tested to serve the purpose. A pure strain Dechlorosoma sp. KJ which is reported for perchlorate degradation was compared with a mixed microbial culture. The mixed consortium has shown greater adaptability to utilize carbon sources for perchlorate degradation than the pure strain. Amongst all the carbon-sources utilized, acetic acid showed best result for perchlorate degradation by the pure strain but succinic acid for the mixed culture. Three microbial strains capable of degrading perchlorate were isolated from the mixed population and preliminary morphological and biochemical characterization were done for all the individual strains. The 16SrDNA has shown that the three strain belonged to three different genera and all of them belong to same family proteobacteria.