Isolation and characterization of a thermophilic Bacillus sp. JF8 capable of degrading polychlorinated biphenyls and naphthalene

Abstract

Bacillus sp. strain JF8, which was isolated from compost, utilizes naphthalene and biphenyl as carbon sources at 60³C. Biphenyl grown cells of strain JF8 barely degraded naphthalene while naphthalene grown cells did not degrade p-chlorobiphenyl, suggesting the existence of two independent degradation pathways. Isolation of JF8N, a mutant strain which can not utilize biphenyl as a carbon source while retaining the ability to utilize naphthalene, supports this hypothesis. Biphenyl grown cells of strain JF8 can degrade several polychlorinated biphenyl congeners including tetra-and pentachlorobiphenyl. bph and nah probes from mesophilic organisms failed to hybridize to strain JF8 DNA. ß 1999 Federation of European Micro-biological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.