Influence of phenanthrene and fluoranthene on the degradation of fluorene and glucose by Sphingomonas sp. strain LB126 in chemostat cultures.

Abstract Since bacteria degrading polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds (PAHs) in polluted soils are generally exposed to mixtures of PAHs, we examined the influence of simple PAH mixtures on the degradation activity of Sphingomonas sp. strain LB126. Fluorene serves as sole carbon and energy source for the strain LB126 and phenanthrene and fluoranthene are cometabolically degraded by this species.