Abstract

The present report deals with the identification of new bacteria for the degradation of sulphonated azo dye such as methyl orange because this type of dye is difficult to degrade by the physico-chemical method. Hence, an eco-friendly and efficient technique like biological method was studied to degrade methyl orange. Initially, three strains were isolated from the flasks containing media amended with textile wastewater using the serial dilution process. Out of three strains, micrococcus yunnanensis exhibited a higher decolourization efficacy in 100 mg L⁻¹, and hence, this strain was chosen for further optimization studies and metabolites identification. This is the first report to study the micrococcus species in methyl orange degradation according to our knowledge. The optimum parameters for the decolourization of methyl orange were found to be pH 7, temperature at 30 °C and dye concentration at 100 mg L⁻¹. The carbon source and nitrogen source suited well for the decolourization were observed as 1% glucose and 1% peptone. The metabolites obtained after degradation of methyl orange were analysed using FT-IR and GC–MS analysis. The final product obtained from the degraded sample was found to be N, N-Diethyl-N’-methyl-1,3-propane diamine.

Graphic abstract