Subhoshmita Mondal

The performance of a sequencing batch biofilter granular reactor (SBBGR), followed by a dual media granular activated carbon (GAC) column, was evaluated in terms of its ability to remove selected per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from landfill leachate. The results show that the SBBGR achieved an overall reduction of 51%, with the preferential removal of long-chain PFAS, while short-chain PFAS were only partially removed. Subsequent GAC treatment exhibited compound-specific breakthrough behavior, which was governed by chain length. Short-chain PFAS (e.g., perfluorobutanoic acid) exhibited rapid bed volumes at 50% breakthrough (BV₅₀ ≈ 88), whereas long-chain PFAS (e.g., perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid) were substantially more retained (BV₅₀ ≈ 446 and 361, respectively), with perfluorohexanesulfonic acid and perfluorodecanoic acid failing to reach BV₅₀ within the monitored period. Mass balance analysis showed that the hybrid GAC column captured ~73% of the influent PFAS mass. This resulted in >80–95% retention of long-chain PFAS and <40% retention of short-chain PFAS. Although long-chain PFAS were preferentially adsorbed, mobile short-chain species dominated residual effluent loads. These findings highlight the need for optimized contact times or dual-media strategies to control the breakthrough of short-chain PFAS.

The performance of a sequencing batch biofilter granular reactor (SBBGR), followed by a dual media granular activated carbon (GAC) column, was evaluated in terms of its ability to remove selected per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from landfill leachate. The results show that the SBBGR achieved an overall reduction of 51%, with the preferential removal of long-chain PFAS, while short-chain PFAS were only partially removed. Subsequent GAC treatment exhibited compound-specific breakthrough behaviour, which was governed by chain length. Short-chain PFAS (e.g., perfluorobutanoic acid) exhibited rapid bed volumes at 50% breakthrough (BV₅₀ ≈ 88), whereas long-chain PFAS (e.g., perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid) were substantially more retained (BV₅₀ ≈ 446 and 361, respectively), with perfluorohexanesulfonic acid and perfluorodecanoic acid failing to reach BV₅₀ within the monitored period. Mass balance analysis showed that the hybrid GAC column captured ~73% of the influent PFAS mass. This resulted in >80–95% retention of long-chain PFAS and < 40% retention of short-chain PFAS. Although long-chain PFAS were preferentially adsorbed, mobile short-chain species dominated residual effluent loads. These findings highlight the need for optimized contact times or dual-media strategies to control the breakthrough of short-chain PFAS.

Heavy metals in aquatic environments pose significant environmental and human health risks, highlighting the urgent need for innovative remediation strategies. This study explores the role of bacterial extracellular polymeric substances as active binding surfaces for copper, in planktonic cells and biofilm-based adsorption systems. Serratia plymuthica strain As3-5a(5) achieved 92% Cu(II) biosorption (from an initial concentration of 3.14 mM) within 4 min in a non-proliferating planktonic cell system, and 98% biosorption in a biofilm-based system on sintered glass. Maximum metal biosorption was achieved by late stationary phase grown cells (72 h), likely due to an increased protein fraction in the tightly bound extracellular polymeric substances. When in the presence of real electroplating wastewater containing 40 mM Cu(II) at pH 1.9, planktonic cell system (10 ¹¹ cells mL ⁻¹ ) achieved 97% Cu(II) biosorption. These results highlight the strong potential of Serratia plymuthica strain As3-5a(5) for developing efficient biological systems for heavy metal removal from industrial wastewater. Furthermore, this work provides valuable insights into sustainable biotechnological approaches for copper remediation, with potential applications in catalytic processes and metal recovery within a circular economy framework. Future studies should involve synthetic biology approach to improve copper sequestration and to investigate the scalability of these systems to higher technology readiness levels under real industrial wastewater conditions.

This study compared the effectiveness of the Sequencing Batch Biofilter Granular Reactor (SBBGR) plant with and without the integration of ozone (BIO-CHEM process) in the remediation of medium-aged landfill leachate. Special attention is given to the removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as a group of bioaccumulative and persistent pollutants. The findings highlight the high SBBGR performance under biological process only for key wastewater contaminants, with 82% for chemical oxygen demand (COD), 86% for total nitrogen, and 98% for ammonia. Moderate removal was observed for total (TSS) and volatile (VSS) suspended solids (41% and 44%, respectively), while phosphorus and colour removal remained limited. Remarkably, the SBBGR process achieved complete removal of long-chain PFAS, while its performance declined for shorter-chain PFAS. BIO-CHEM process significantly improved COD (87.7%), TSS (84.6%), VSS (86.7%), and colour (92–96%) removal. Conversely, ozonation led to an unexpected increase in the concentrations of several PFAS in the effluent, suggesting ozone-induced desorption from the biomass. SBBGR treatment was characterised by a low specific sludge production (SSP) value, i.e., 5–6 times less than that of conventional biological processes. SSP was further reduced during the application of the BIO-CHEM process. A key finding of this study is a critical challenge for PFAS removal in this combined treatment approach, different from other ozone-based methods.

The classical usage of myco-biocontrol agents for agricultural pests globally has involved the group entomopathogenic fungi with enhanced habitat manipulation. The classified entomopathogenic fungi, Beauveria bassiana is one of the significant host with effective control on population of insect-pests. It is considered, the cuticle signifies the key point of fence contact between the fungus and the insect. Knowledge of molecular mechanisms analysed using computational methods, may define interactions that eventually can direct either to successful mycosis by the pathogen or defense by the hosts. Apart conventional experimental method, we have approached with an in-silico pipeline to define the facts of surface contact of Beauveria bassiana with its two promising hosts, Nilaparvata lugens and Sodoptera exigua. The protein sequences were retrieved and subjected to modeller followed by validated structural integrity and simulation. Later, all simulated protein structures were docked to extensively study the contact of host-pathogen that includes surface protein-protein interactions.

Quorum sensing is cell to cell communication process through chemical signals formally known as autoinducers. When the concentration of quorum sensing molecules reached threshold concentration bacteria are in active state or quorum state. In this article, we propose a mathematical model of quorum sensing systems and study this biological system numerically. Moreover, we compare the different numerical scheme with the batch culture of P.aeruginosa . We observed a negative diffusion coefficient which plays an important role in the quorum sensing mechanism.

The pattern of the biomass specific growth rate is an important focus for many biotechnological applications. Several control strategies have been employed to describe version of the exponential phase of growth of microorganisms. Moreover, in some bioprocesses there is more than one feeding substrates required for the specific growth. Hence, the problem of estimating multiple substrate consumption rates together with the specific growth rate of the microorganism becomes applicable. In this context, the dynamics behaviour of fed-batch process with multiple substrates (dextrose and peptone) and kinetics is further investigated in Beauveria bassiana . Different features of the proposed model are assessed by numerical simulation in different scenarios.

Keeping a pace with Quorum sensing, analyzing communication shows the close co-evolution of fungi with organisms present in their environment giving insights into multispecies communication. Subsequently, many examples of cell density dependent regulation by extracellular factors have been found in diverse microorganisms. The widespread incidence of diverse quorum-sensing systems strongly suggests that regulation in accordance with cell density is important for the success of microbes in many environments. The paper includes the basic autoregulatory quorum sensing molecules that has been perceived. Although fungal quorum sensing research is still in its infancy, its discovery has changed our views about the fungal kingdom and could eventually lead to the development of new antifungal therapeutics.