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Degradation of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) by a consortium obtained from a contaminated soil composed of Brevibacterium, Pandoraea and Ochrobactrum

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Abstract

An indigenous polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-degrading bacterial consortium was obtained from soils contaminated by transformer oil with a high content of PCBs. The PCB degrader strains were isolated and identified as Brevibacterium antarcticum, Pandoraea pnomenusa, and Ochrobactrum intermedium by 16S rRNA gene sequence phylogenetic analysis. The PCB-degrading ability of the consortium and of individual strains was determined by using GC/MS. The PCB-degrading capacities of the consortium were evaluated for three concentrations of transfomer oil ranging from 55 to 152 μM supplemented with 0.001% biphenyl and 0.1% of Tween 80 surfactant. PCB biodegradation by the consortium was favored in the presence of both additives and the greatest extent of biodegradation (67.5%) was obtained at a PCB concentration of 55 μM. Each bacterial species exhibited a particular pattern of degradation relating to specific PCB congeners. Isolated strains showed a moderate degradation capability towards tetra-, hepta-, and octa-chlorobiphenyls; although no effect on penta-, hexa-, and nona-chlorobiphenyls was observed. Recently, PCB degradation capacity was recognized in a Pandorea member; however, this is the first study that describes the ability of Brevibacterium and Ochrobactrum species to degrade PCBs.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants SIP20070651 and SIP20070164 Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN). C. Hernández-Rodríguez and J. Jan-Roblero appreciate the fellowship of Comisión de Operación y Fomento de Actividades Académicas (COFAA) and Estímulo al Desempeño Académico (EDI), IPN, and Sistema Nacional de Investigadores (SNI), CONACyT.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, IPN. Prol. de Carpio y Plan de Ayala Col. Sto. Tomás, 11340, Mexico, D.F. Mexico

    Janet Jan-Roblero, Javier Zavala-Díaz de la Serna, Arturo Vera-Ponce de León & César Hernández-Rodríguez

  2. Dirección de seguridad y medio ambiente, Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo. Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas, 152, Col. San Bartolo Atepehuacán, 07730, Mexico, D.F. Mexico

    Juan Antonio Zermeño-Eguia Liz

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  1. Juan Antonio Zermeño-Eguia Liz
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  2. Janet Jan-Roblero
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  3. Javier Zavala-Díaz de la Serna
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  4. Arturo Vera-Ponce de León
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  5. César Hernández-Rodríguez
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Correspondence to César Hernández-Rodríguez.

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Liz, J.A.ZE., Jan-Roblero, J., de la Serna, J.ZD. et al. Degradation of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) by a consortium obtained from a contaminated soil composed of Brevibacterium, Pandoraea and Ochrobactrum . World J Microbiol Biotechnol 25, 165–170 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-008-9875-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-008-9875-3

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