Microbiologist R S Upadhyay and his student R K Maurya from the Banaras Hindu University have isolated two fungal and one bacterial strain which are capable of removing dyes and heavy metals from polluted water. Banaras, a sari and carpet-making centre, loads its water bodies with large amounts of azodyes containing toxic heavy metals.
Calling the strains RKM-1, RKM-2 and RKM-3, the duo are confident of developing a cheap and effective water treatment technology based on these microbes. While RKM-1 and 2 belong to the filamentus group of fungi, the third belongs to the bacterial species of pseudomonas .
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