Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) pollution is one of the major environmental concerns all over the world. This research aimed at studying the biodegradation kinetics of DEHP by a newly isolated bacterial strain. Water and sediment samples were collected from Wuhan South Lake and potent bacterial isolates were screened for DEHP degradation, characterized by biochemical, physiological, morphological and 16S rDNA gene sequencing, and optimized under suitable pH, temperature, NaCl and DEHP concentrations. DEHP and its metabolites were quantified by High Performance Liquid Chromatography and their degradation kinetics were studied. RESULTS: The newly isolated bacterium was identified as Ochrobactrum anthropi strain L1-W with 99.63% similarity to Ochrobactrum anthropi ATCC 49188. It was capable of utilizing DEHP as the carbon source. The optimum growth temperature, pH, DEHP and NaCl concentration for the strain L1-W were 30 °C, 6, 400 mg/L and 10 g/L respectively. Strain L1-W was capable of degrading almost all (98.7%) of DEHP when the initial concentration was 200 mg/L within a period of 72 h. Besides, it was also found capable of degrading five other phthalates, thus making it a possible candidate for bioremediation of phthalates in the environmental settings.