Degradation and desulfurization of dibenzothiophene sulfone and other sulfur compounds by Agrobacterium MC501 and a mixed culture

Agrobacterium MC501 and the mixed culture composed of Agrobacterium MC501, Xanthomonas MC701, Corynebacterium sp. MC401, and Corynebacterium sp. MC402, all previously isolated from a coal mine area by an enrichment culture with dibenzothiophene (DBT), were used to study DBT sulfone desulfurization. Both cultures were able to use DBT sulfone as a sole source of sulfur for growth. This compound was metabolized to 2-hydroxybiphenyl (2PP) and sulfate. Agrobacterium MC501 and the mixed culture could also utilize a wide range of organic and inorganic sulfur compounds as sources of sulfur such as DBT, thianthrene, diphenylsulfide, thiophene-2-carboxylate, dibutilsulfide, methionine, cysteine, sulfate, and sulfite. Based on these results, the above-mentioned strains can be used to characterize and study coal desulfurization.