Title: Aerobic biodegradation of hexachlorobenzene by an acclimated microbial community

Authors: Ting Liu, Zhulei Chen, Yunfen Shen

Addresses: Environmental Science Research Institute, HuaZhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, PRC. ' Environmental Science Research Institute, HuaZhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, PRC. ' The Institute of Hydrobiology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, The Laboratory of Protozoan Taxonomy and Ecology, Wuhan 430072, PRC

Abstract: The aerobic degradation of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) by an acclimated microbial community which isolated from a contaminated site and acclimated in our laboratory was investigated. The enriched microbial community was capable of biodegrading HCB when cultivated in minimal salts medium and supplied HCB as the sole carbon source. The efficiencies of microbial community in the degradation of HCB under different pH and temperatures were examined. The phylogenetic analysis for the nearly complete sequences of 16S rDNA demonstrated that the bacteria assemblage in the microbial community was dominated by Azospirillum and Alcaligenes groups.

Keywords: hexachlorobenzene; HCB; aerobic biodegradation; microbial community; bacteria; 16S rDNA; Azospirillum; Alcaligenes; environmental pollution.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2009.025127

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2009 Vol.37 No.2/3, pp.235 - 244

Published online: 13 May 2009 *

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