Achromobacter denitrificans SP1 produces pharmaceutically active 25C prodigiosin upon utilizing hazardous di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate.

This first report describes the purification and identification of an orange-red pigment produced by Achromobacter denitrificans strain SP1 (isolated from sewage sludge heavily contaminated with plastics) during its growth in a simple basal salt medium supplemented with the hazardous di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) blended in PVC blood bag (in situ) or free DEHP (ex situ) as carbon source. The cell-bound pigment was elucidated, characterized at molecular level, and described as an unusual 25C prodigiosin analog for the first time. At laboratory conditions (in flasks), the dry cell mass was 75.