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Degradation of environmental endocrine disruptor di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate by a newly discovered bacterium, Microbacterium sp. strain CQ0110Y

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Abstract

In this study di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP)-degradation strain CQ0110Y was isolated from activated sludge. According to the biophysical/biochemical characteristics and analysis of 16S rDNA, the strain was identified as Microbacterium sp. The results of this study showed the optimal pH value and optimal temperature which influenced the degradation rate in wastewater: pH 6.5–7.5, 25–35°C. Kinetics of degradation reaction had been performed at different initial concentrations and different time. Analyzed with SPSS10.0 software, the DEHP degradation can be described as the same exponential model when the initial DEHP concentration was lower than 1,350 mg/l. The kinetics equation was ln C = −0.4087t + A, with the degradation half life of DEHP in wastewater (1.59 days). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of DEHP degradation by Microbacterium sp. strain.

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Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 50408027), the Youth Foundation of Sichuan Province Education Department of China (grant no. 2004B004), and the Key Project of Ministry of Science and Technology of China (grant no. 2003BA869C and no. 2003BA903B03-02). We thank Mr. Xuekui Zhang of Chongqing Municipal Center of Disease Control and Prevention for helping detect the degradation products of DEHP.

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Correspondence to Weiqun Shu.

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Xiang Li and Ji-an Chen contributed equally to this work.

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Chen, Ja., Li, X., Li, J. et al. Degradation of environmental endocrine disruptor di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate by a newly discovered bacterium, Microbacterium sp. strain CQ0110Y. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 74, 676–682 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-006-0700-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-006-0700-3

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