Screening and characterization of a phenol-degrading bacterium

A strain ph 16, that could effectively degrade phenol, was isolated from sewer sludge of printing and dyeing plant. The preliminary identification sugg ested that the strain belongs to Micrococcus sp. The strain could resist to phenol up to 1.5 g/L. The efficient biodegradation of phenol occurred when the strain was cultured in the medium (pH 7.0) containing 1.0 g/L phenol under 35℃, where the highest degradation rate reach 99.6% after 36 hours. This strain, when treated with some heavy metal ions such as Hg~(+)、Co~(2+) and Ag~(2+), showed the significant inhibition of phenol degradation by 74.2%～100%. The kinetics of phenol degradation during culture of the strain was also explored.