Biodegradation of anthracene by a newly isolated bacterial strain, Bacillus thuringiensis AT.ISM.1, isolated from a fly ash deposition site

The current study is aimed to evaluate the mechanism of anthracene degradation by a bacterial strain isolated from fly ash deposition site near Jamadoba Coal Preparation Plant, Jharkhand, India. The Bushnell-Haas media cultured (containing anthracene as sole carbon source) bacterial isolate was identified by 16S rRNA gene sequence coding as the Bacillus thuringiensis strain, which showed the efficiency to degrade anthracene. The degradation efficiency of the strain has been estimated to be around 91% (for 40mgl(-1) of anthracene concentration) after 2 weeks of incubation at 33-36 degrees C and initial pH of 6.8-7. The growth kinetics of the isolated strain has been described well by the Haldane-Andrews model of microbial growth pattern for inhibitory substrate, with a correlation factor (R-2 value) of 09790. The maximum specific growth rate (mu(max)) was 001053 h(-1) and the value of inhibition coefficient for Haldane model was specified as 18.2448mg l(-1). In the present study, some diphenol metabolites were identified besides the known possible biodegradation products.