Enrichment, isolation, and characterization of phenol-degrading Pseudomonas resinovorans strain P-1 and Brevibacillus sp. strain P-6

The objectives of this research were to isolate pure phenol-degrading strains from enriched mixed cultures, monitoring the variations of species during the enrichment period. Two strains were isolated from the acclimated mixed culture. They were identified as Pseudomonas resinovorans strain P-1 and Brevibacillus sp. strain P-6. DGGE indicated that strain P. resinovorans appeared at the beginning, and maintained well during the enrichment period. The second strain, Brevibacillus sp., did not appear in the initial stage, but showed up after 2 weeks of enrichment. The optimum growth temperatures for P. resinovorans and Brevibacillus sp. were 31 and 39 °C, respectively. P. resinovorans could degrade phenol completely within 57.5 h, when the initial phenol concentration was lower than 600 mg l−1. If the initial phenol concentration was lower than 200 mg l−1, Brevibacillus sp. could remove phenol completely within 93.1 h. It was obvious that the phenol-degrading ability of P. resinovorans was much better than that of Brevibacillus sp. The metabolic pathway for P. resinovorans phenol degradation was assigned to the meta-cleavage activity of catechol 2,3-dioxygenase.