Degradation of Microcystin-RR by Sphingomonas sp CBA4 isolated from San Roque reservoir (Cordoba -: Argentina)

We report the aerobic biodegradation of Microcystin-RR (MC-RR) by a bacterial strain isolated from San Roque reservoir (Cordoba - Argentina). This bacterium was identified as Sphingomonas sp. (CBA4) on the basis of 16S rDNA sequencing. The isolated strain was capable of degrading completely MC-RR (200 mu g l(-1)) within 36 h. We have found evidence that MC-RR biodegradation pathway by this Sphingomonas sp. strain would start by demethylating MC-RR, affording an intermediate product, which is finally biodegraded by this strain within 72 h. Our results confirm that certain environmental bacteria, living in the same habitat as toxic cyanobacteria, have the capability to perform complete biodegradation of MC, leading to natural bioremediation of waterbodies. The bacterium reported here presents genetic homologies with other strains that degrade MC-LR. However, initial demethylation of MC-RR has been not described previously, raising questions on the probable presence of different biodegradation pathways for different MC variants.