Study on the flocculability of the Arthrobacter sp., an actinomycete resuscitated from the VBNC state.

A bioflocculant with high flocculating activity, LC13-SF, produced by strain LC13(T) which was in a viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state, and which was woken up by Rpf (resuscitation promoting factor), was systematically investigated with regard to its fermentation conditions and flocculating activity. The key parameters influencing the bioflocculant LC13-SF were investigated through measuring the optical density at 660 (OD(660)) of the fermentation liquid and the optical density at 550 (OD(550)) of the centrifugal supernatant. The flocculating efficiency and the Zeta potentials were chosen as the response variables for the study of the flocculating activity. The results showed that the optimal conditions for bioflocculant LC13-SF production were a fermentation time of 72 h, an initial pH of 7.0, a fermentation temperature of 30°C and a shaking speed of 150 r/min. The optimized flocculating process was as follows: a final volume percentage of bioflocculant LC13-SF and 0.5% (w/w) CaCl(2) were 1.5 and 5%, respectively in a 4 g/L Kaolin suspension, and the system pH was adjusted to 8.0. Under these conditions, the flocculating efficiency and the absolute value of the Zeta potential reached 94.83% and 4.37, respectively.