The pentachlorophenol-dehalogenating Desulfitobacterium hafniense strain PCP-1

In this report, a complete description of Desulfitobacterium hafniense strain PCP-1 is presented. The D. hafniense strain PCP-1 was isolated from a methanogenic consortium for its capacity to dehalogenate pentachlorophenol (PCP) into 3-chlorophenol. This strain is also capable of dehalogenating several other chloroaromatic compounds and tetrachloroethene into trichloroethene. Four gene loci encoding putative chlorophenol-reductive dehalogenases (CprA2 to CprA5) were detected, and the products of two of these loci have been demonstrated to dechlorinate different chlorinated phenols. Strain PCP-1 was used in laboratory-scale bioprocesses to degrade PCP present in contaminated environments. Desulfitobacterium hafniense PCP-1 is an excellent candidate for the development of efficient bioprocesses to degrade organohalide compounds.