ABSTRACT
Asbestos poses a substantial environmental health risk, and biological treatment offers a promising approach to mitigate its impact by altering its chemical composition. However, the dynamics of microbial co-inoculation in asbestos bioremediation remain poorly understood. This study investigates the effect of microbial single cultures and co-cultures on modifying crocidolite and chrysotile fibers, focusing on the extraction of iron and magnesium. Seventy bacterial and eighty-three fungal strains were isolated from five diverse sites, characterized phylogenetically using the 16S rRNA gene and ITS region, respectively, and assessed for siderophore and organic acid production. Most bacterial strains were identified as Pseudomonas, while Penicillium predominated among fungal strains. Ten bacterial and 25 fungal strains were found to produce both organic compounds. Four microbial co-cultures (one bacterium-bacterium, two fungus-bacterium, and one fungus-fungus) exhibiting synergistic effects in plate assays, alongside their respective single cultures, were incubated with crocidolite and chrysotile. ICP-OES analysis revealed that in crocidolite, the co-culture HRF19-HRB12 removed more iron than their single cultures, while Penicillium TPF36 showed the highest iron removal. The co-culture of two Pseudomonas strains (HRB12-RB5) exhibited the highest magnesium concentration in the supernatant. In chrysotile, the co-culture HRB12-RB5 removed more iron than their individual cultures, with Penicillium TFSF27 exhibiting the highest iron concentration in the solution. Penicillium TFSF27 and the co-culture TFSF27-TPF36 demonstrated the highest magnesium removal. SEM-XRMA analysis showed a significant reduction in iron and magnesium content, confirming elemental extraction from the fibers' structure. This study significantly broadens the range of microbial strains capable of modifying asbestos fibers and underscores the potential of microbial co-cultures in asbestos remediation.