Biological stoichiometry and bioenergetics of fusarium oxysporum ekt01/02 proliferation using different substrates in cyanidation wastewater

Abstract

Cyanidation wastewater from gold mining operations contains high concentrations of heavy metals, ammonia, and cyanide. Although the wastewater can be bioremediated, few studies report on the stoichiometric and thermodynamic analysis of such processes. Thermodynamic analysis can predict the feasibility of a metabolic reaction and suitable conditions under which such a reaction can occur, thus addressing the feasibility of the process being studied.[1–3] Similarly, few studies report on the stoichiometric analysis of microbial proliferation and yield in bioremediation processes, although these factors determine the effectiveness of such bioprocesses because they are dependent on the microbial metabolic functions including cellular respiration of the isolates used. Furthermore, the stoichiometric coefficients define the efficiency of a specific microbial species in a defined process. Introducing bioenergetic analysis in such processes can further elucidate the feasibility of reactions under observation.