Biodegradation of phenol by Antarctic strains of Aspergillus fumigatus.

Taxonomic identification of three newly isolated Antarctic fungal strains by their 18S rDNA sequences revealed their affiliation with Aspergillus fumigatus. Phenol (0.5 g/l) as the sole carbon source was completely degraded by all strains within less than two weeks.

Influence of phenolic substrates utilised by yeast on the degradation kinetics.

The degradation kinetics of different phenolic substrates utilised by R57 was studied. The following compounds were used as substrates: , resorcinol, hydroquinone, 3-nitrophenol, 2,6-dinitrophenol, 3-chloro phenol and -cresol. The specific degradation rates ( ) were described by a Haldane kinetic model.

Molecular analysis of phenol-degrading microbial strains.

In an attempt to estimate the occurrence of phenol hydroxylase-related gene sequences we performed a dot blot hybridization assay with DNA from phenol utilizing Trichosporon cutaneum R57 strain NBIMCC 2414 and microbial isolates from different wastewaters. The used oligonucletides were homologous to the 5'-end of TORPHD locus (NCBI)-coding phenol hydroxylase in Trichosporon cutaneum ATCC 46490 and to the 5'-end of TORCCMLE locus (NCBI)-coding cis,cis-muconate-lactonizing enzyme in Trichosporon cutaneum ATCC 58094. Two microbial strains, Escherichia coli JM 109 and Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 4356, incapable to degrade phenol were used as negative controls.