Isolation and Characterization of Aromatics-degrading Microorganisms from the Gut of the Lower Termite Coptoterme

Abstract

We isolated aromatics-degrading bacteria from the gut of a lower termite, Coptotermes formosanus, using a mineral salt medium containing various aromatic compounds as the sole carbon source. Two species, Burkholderia sp. strain VE22 and Citrobacter sp. strain VA53, were isolated by aerobic enrichment culture with veratraldehyde and vanillin, respectively. Strain VA53 could also grow and metabolize vanillin anaerobically. © 2003 by Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry.