Isolation and identification of 1,3,6,8-tetrabromocarbazole – degrading bacteria

Abstract

Halogenated carbazoles are a new class of persistent organic pollutants with dioxin-like toxicity, and this study focused on the microbial degradation of 1,3,6,8-tetrabromocarbazole. In this study, a novel 1,3,6,8-tetrabromocarbazole (1,3,6,8-TBCZ) degrading strain TB-1 was isolated from contaminated soil and identified as Achromobacter sp. based on its 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics. The soil sample was collected from a pharmaceutical factory in Suzhou, China. The strain was able to effectively degrade 1 mg L⁻¹ 1,3,6,8-TBCZ in 7 d at pH 7.0 and 30 °C with 80% degradation rate. During the process, the intermediate metabolites were identified as Tribromocarbazole, dibromocarbazole and bromocarbazole via gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results indicated that strain TB-1 may contribute to the bioremediation of polyhalogenated carbazoles (PHCs) in contaminated environment.

Keywords:

• 1,3,6,8-Tetrabromocarbazole
• polyhalogenated carbazoles
• biodegradation
• Achromobacter sp.
• intermediate metabolites

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Data availability statement

The data used to support the findings of this study are included within the article. Data are available on request to the authors.