A GRAM-POSITIVE POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYL-DEGRADING BACTERIUM, RHODOCOCCUS-ERYTHROPOLIS STRAIN TA421, ISOLATED FROM A TERMITE ECOSYSTEM

Gram-positive bacteria, identified as Rhodococcus erythropolis, were isolated from the ecosystem of the wood-feeding termite Reticulitermes speratus and found to aerobically degrade polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) compounds. Rhodococcus erythropolis strain TA421 and strain TA431 were isolated by enrichment culture from termites obtained from different locations and each was found to be capable of degrading polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) compounds to chlorobenzoates. These results suggest that the termite ecosystem is one possible habitat for biphenyl- and PCB-degrading Rhodococci. The spectrum of PCB-congeners degraded by strain TA421 is different from that of other, previously characterized PCB-degrading bacteria such as Rhodococcus globerulus strain P6 (formerly Corynebacterium sp. strain MB1) or Pseudomonas sp. strain LB400.