Improper discharge of colored effluents in aqueous ecosystems depicts acute toxic effects on aquatic flora and fauna and causing severe environmental problems worldwide. The present study concentrates on efficiency and potentiality of novel strain SUB 77 capable of degrading the azo textile dye Mordant Black 17, which was isolated from effluent disposal sites of textile industries, Tirupur and Gummidipoondi. Phenotypic characterization and phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA sequence indicated that the bacterial strain-SUB 7 belonged to Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The strain was able to decolorize the azo dye (Mordant Black 17) efficiently up to 86% and 75% in shake and static conditions respectively, in a range of 100 mg L^-1, at temperature of 37°C, at pH 7.0. The spectrophotometric analysis of n-butanol cell extract authenticated the decolorization of dye was obtained because of the degradation of aromatic amines rather the inactive surface adsorption which is further substantiated with TLC and FTIR.

Keywords: Pseudomonas, decolorization, biodegradation, aromatic amines.