Phytoremediation of sulfonated Remazol Red dye and textile effluents by Alternanthera philoxeroides: An anatomical, enzymatic and pilot scale study.

Alternanthera philoxeroides Griseb. a macrophyte was found to degrade a highly sulfonated textile dye Remazol Red (RR) completely within 72 h at a concentration of 70 mg L(-1). An induction in the activities of azoreductase and riboflavin reductase was observed in root and stem tissues; while the activities of lignin peroxidase, laccase and DCIP reductase were induced in leaf tissues. Some enzymes namely tyrosinase, veratryl alcohol oxidase, catalase and superoxide dismutase displayed an increase in their activity in all the tissues in response of 72 h exposure to Remazol Red. There was a marginal reduction in contents of chlorophyll a (20%), chlorophyll b (5%) and carotenoids (16%) in the leaves when compared to control plants. A detailed anatomical study of the stem during uptake and treatment revealed a stepwise mechanism of dye degradation. UV-vis spectrophotometric and high performance thin layer chromatographic analyses confirmed the removal of parent dye from solution. Based on the enzymes activities and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopic analysis of degradation products, a possible pathway of phytotransformation of RR was proposed which revealed the formation of 4-(phenylamino)-1,3,5-triazin-2-ol, naphthalene-1-ol and 3-(ethylsulfonyl)phenol. Toxicity study on Devario aequipinnatus fishes showed that the anatomy of gills of fishes exposed to A. philoxeroides treated RR was largely protected. The plants were further explored for rhizofiltration experiments in a pilot scale reactor. A. philoxeroides could decolorize textile industry effluent of varying pH within 96 h of treatment which was evident from the significant reductions in the values of American dye manufacturers' institute color, chemical oxygen demand, biological oxygen demand, total dissolved and total suspended solids.