Isolation of a Novel Endophytic Bacillus Strain Capable of Transforming Pentachlorophenol and Structure Determination of Pentachlorophenol Phosphate Using Single-Crystal X-ray Diffraction

A novel approach for the remediation of upland soils contaminated with pentachlorophenol (C6HCl5O; PCP) (1), a fungicide, wood perservative, and herbicide, through the exploitation of plant-endophytic bacteria may overcome the existing issues in bioaugmentaion and phytoremidiation. In this study, we isolated the endophytic Bacillus sp. strain PCP15 and determined its metabolite of PCP (1). This strain degraded 8.03 mu mol L-1 PCP (1) within 24 h and generated the novel metabolite PCP phosphate (3). The PCP15 strain showed nearly complete growth inhibition of 20 mu mol L-1 PCP (1). In contrast, PCP15 showed resistance to PCP phosphate (3), indicating that the phosphorylation of PCP, which has never previously been reported in organisms, contributed to the detoxification of PCP (1) in bacterial cells. Our results show the potential for practical application of this strain in hybrid remediation of PCP (1)-contaminated soils and reveal a novel PCP (1) detoxification mechanism in organisms.

Automated summary

In this study, a novel approach using plant-endophytic bacteria for the remediation of upland soils contaminated with pentachlorophenol (PCP) was investigated. The isolated Bacillus sp. strain PCP15 showed the ability to degrade PCP and generate a novel metabolite. The findings suggest the potential practical application of this strain for the remediation of PCP-contaminated soils and provide insights into a new detoxification mechanism for PCP.