The objective of the study was to improve tetracycline degradation efficiency by Trichosporon mycotoxinivorans XPY-10 using statistical experimental designs. Different culture conditions (FeSO4, pH and glucose) were optimized for tetracycline biodegradation and the mutual interactions between these three variables were analysed using Box-Behnken design (BBD) and response surface methodology (RSM). The results showed that the empirical model was suitable for experimental data, and the maximum tetracycline degradation efficiency by XPY-10 was 95.18% under the optimum conditions of 0.02% of FeSO4, pH 7.83 and 0.28% of glucose, which was further verified by experiments. This study indicated the excellent ability of XPY-10 in degrading tetracycline and theoretical support for the follow-up practice to remediate tetracycline contaminated environment.
Keywords: Biodegradation; Box–Behnken design; Plackett–Burman design; response surface methodology; tetracycline.