Phenol degradation by Sulfobacillus acidophilus TPY via the meta-pathway

Due to its toxicity and volatility, phenol must be cleared from the environment. Sulfobacillus acidophilus TPY, which was isolated from a hydrothermal vent in the Pacific Ocean as a moderately thermoacidophilic Gram-positive bacterium, was capable of aerobically degrading phenol. This bacterium could tolerate up to 1300 mg/L phenol and degrade 100 mg/L phenol in 40 h completely at 45 degrees C and pH 1.8 with a maximal degradation rate of 2.32 mg/L/h at 38 h. Genome-wide search revealed that one gene (TPY_3176) and 14 genes clustered together in two regions with locus tags of TPY_0628-0634 and TPY_0640-0646 was proposed to be involved in phenol degradation via the meta-pathway with both the 4-oxalocrotonate branch and the hydrolytic branch. Real-time PCR analysis of S. acidophilus TPY under phenol cultivation condition confirmed the transcription of proposed genes involved in the phenol degradation meta pathway. Degradation of 3-methylphenol and 2-methylphenol confirmed that the hydrolytic branch was utilised by S. acidophilus TPY. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that S. acidophilus TPY was closely related to sulphate-reducing bacteria and some Gram-positive phenol-degrading bacteria. This was the first report demonstrating the ability of S. acidophilus to degrade phenol and characterising the putative genes involved in phenol metabolism in S. acidophilus TPY. (C) 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.