Isolation and identification of Sphingomonas sp. that yields tert-octylphenol monoethoxylate under aerobic conditions

Topsoil samples were collected from eight golf courses in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, and enrichment cultures were carried out with a basal-salt medium containing 0.2% 4-tert-octylphenol polyethoxylate (OPPEO) as sole carbon source. OPPEO-degrading activity was detected in one of the samples, from which a strain of OPPEO-degrading bacterium was isolated. The isolated bacterium grew on a nutritionally enriched medium (NE medium) containing 0.2% OPPEO as sole carbon source, and accumulated 4-tert-octylphenol diethoxylate (OP2EO) (63%), 4-tert-octylphenol triethoxylate (OP3EO) (14%), and 4-tert-octylphenol monoethoxylate (OP1EO) (2%) after 7 d cultivation under aerobic conditions. The addition of clay mineral (vermiculite) to the medium accelerated the degradation of OP2EO (40%) and OP3EO (4%) to OP1EO (23%). This is the first report about bacteria that can degrade OPPEO to OP1EO under aerobic conditions. The strain was identified as Sphingomonas macrogoltabidus, based on the homology of a 16S rDNA sequence.