Dimethylphthalate hydrolysis by specific microbial esterase

Two bacterial strains: Arthrobacter sp. and Sphingomonas paucimobilis were isolated from soil by enrichment cultures using dimethylphthalate (DMP) or monomethylphthalate (MMP) as sole carbon source, respectively. DMP was rapidly transformed by an Arthrobacter sp. culture with formation of MMP and phthalic acid (PA) which is further degraded. This strain was unable to hydrolyse MMP. A mechanism of degradation of DMP was proposed with two ways: DMP→PA and DMP→MMP. The S. paucimobilis strain hydrolyses only MMP and a coculture of the two strains allowed a complete degradation of DMP.