Biodegradation of nonylphenol by two alphaproteobacterial strains in liquid culture and sediment microcosm

Nonylphenol (NP) has been a contaminant of great environmental concern due to its ubiquity, toxicity and endocrine activity. Biodegradation is an ideal way to clean up NP pollution. In this study, two NP degraders were isolated from river sediment. Their ability to degrade NP was tested in both liquid culture and sediment microcosm. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that one isolate belonged to genus Rhizobium, while another was a Sphingobium species. The Rhizobium strain contained ALK gene, while the Sphingobium strain harbored ALK and C230 genes. Both of the two strains showed strong NP degradation ability in liquid culture. However, only the Rhizobium strain demonstrated a potential of bioremediating NP-contaminated sediment. This study can provide some new insights towards NP biodegradation and bioremediation. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.