Abstract
The ε-caprolactam is the monomer of the synthetic non-degradable nylon-6 and often found as nonreactive component of nylon-6 manufacturing waste effluent. Environmental consequences of its toxicity to natural habitats and humans pose a global public concern. Soil samples were collected from three designated solid waste dumpsites, namely, Abule-Egba, Olusosun and Isheri-Igando in Lagos State, Nigeria. Sixteen bacteria isolated from these samples were found to utilize the ε-caprolactam as a sole source of carbon and nitrogen at concentration of ≤20 g l(-1). The isolates were characterized using their 16S rRNA gene sequence and showed similarity with Pseudomonas sp., Proteus sp., Providencia sp., Corynebacterium sp., Lysinibacillus sp., Leucobacter sp., Alcaligenes sp. and Bordetella sp. Their optimal growth conditions were found to be at temperature range of 30 to 35 °C and pH range of 7.0-7.5. High Performance liquid chromatography analysis of the ε-caprolactam from supernatant of growth medium revealed that these isolates have potential to remove 31.6-95.7 % of ε-caprolactam. To the best of our knowledge, this study is first to report the ability of Proteus sp. and Bordetella sp. for ε-caprolactam utilization.