Degradation of synthetic azo dyes by Citrobacter freundii isolated from tannery effluent

Scarcity of water is becoming a big issue. Most of the water is used in industrial sectors including pharmaceutical, food, textiles, leather, and cosmetics. Industrial effluent water is unable to treat and reuse due to their intricate nature. Effluent water contains synthetic azo dyes since they employ synthetic azo dyes as a major coloring agent. Existing approaches are ineffective in treating effluent containing synthetic azo dyes. Synthetic azo dyes containing effluent water can be treated biologically to overcome the drawbacks of physical and chemical processes. In this research work, novel organism was isolated from tannery effluent water. Isolated organisms were screened and selected for effective degradation of azo dyes. One such organism is Citrobacter freundii which effectively degrade the effluent water containing synthetic azo dyes and allowing it to reuse for variety of purpose. Phytotoxicity study of the treated water was carried out and the study confirms non toxicity nature of the treated water. In-silico screening was carried out to test the interaction efficacy of enzymes such as Laccase, Azo reductase, and peroxidase which are responsible for effective dye degradation with synthetic azo dyes. In silico studies showed better interactions between synthetic azo dyes and enzymes. This is the novel report on showing the effective degradation of synthetic azo yellow dye by using C. freundii isolated from tannery effluent.