Using petrochemical wastewater for synthesis of cruxrhodopsin as an energy capturing nanoparticle by Haloarcula sp. IRU1

In this study, the feasibility of cruxrhodopsin (CR) production as a multifunctional nanoparticle was investigated and optimized by Halorculasp. IRU1, a novel halophile Archaea isolated from Urmia Lake, Iran in batch experiments. In this case, Taguchi method was used for effect measurement of three important factors (petrochemical wastewater, yeast extract and KH2PO4) on CR production. Results illustrated that the petrochemical wastewater concentration was the meaningful factor in CR synthesis. The optimum factor levels for petrochemical wastewater concentration, yeast extract and KH2PO4 were 2% (w/v), 0.2% (w/v) and 0.004% (w/v), respectively. Also, under these conditions, the predicted value for CR production was about 44.24%. Therefore, this investigation demonstrated that Haloarcula sp. IRU1 has a high potential for synthesis of CR from petrochemical wastewater.