In vivo bioremediation of Fe2+ from batch culture medium using Penicillium jensenii and Penicillium frequentans isolated from historical stone surfaces

In this study, the purification or bioremediation of synthetic water prepared using Fe 2+ , one of the heavy metals, by growing microorganisms was investigated. For this purpose, it was thought that microorganism species that live in scarce nutrient environments and grow rapidly would be effective in heavy metal purification. Microorganisms living on the stone surface in historical artifacts were preferred as scarce nutrient medium. Among approximately 20 bacterial and fungal species isolated from the stone surface, two that grew very rapidly were preferred for this study. Bioremediation studies were conducted with Penicillium jensenii and Penicillium frequentans . Penicillium jensenii and Penicillium frequentans use elements such as iron in the mineralogical structure of the stone for their growth in very scarce nutrient conditions. In this study, iron removal from the solution was simultaneously achieved during the process of ensuring the viability and proliferation of two different fungal species for ten days. In the preliminary experiments, the purification and bioremediation of the heavy metal in the FeSO 4 ·7H 2 O compound with the help of the mentioned fungus were investigated. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that the Fe 2+ removal efficiency for 100 mg Fe 2+ /L synthetic sample was 93.45 % and 91.90 % for Penicillium jensenii and Penicillium frequentans , respectively. Moreover, maximum specific uptake rate (S m ) were calculated as 0.139 mg Fe 2+ /g Penicillium jensenii and 0.124 mg Fe 2+ /g Penicillium frequentans fungus dry weight .