Isolation of a Novel Bacterium for the Efficient Biodegradation of 2-Methylisoborneol

Abstract

2-Methylisoborneol (2-MIB) is one of typical odorants in potable water sources, which is hardly removed by conventional water treatment process. A large number of studies have shown it is bio-degradable, but theory of biodegradation is not explicit. In this study, a promising bacterial strain for biodegrading 2-MIB was successfully isolated from a bioreactor for the efficient biodegradation of 2-MIB and identified as Arthrobacter ureafaciens-YW with 16S rDNA sequencing and physiological analysis, which is not previously reported. 35% of 2-MIB was biodegraded in 2 d at initial 2-MIB concentration of 50 μg/L. In addition, in the presence of nicotinamide of 20 mmol/L, the rate of 2-MIB biodegradation by A. ureafaciens-YW can be increased by 5%. This study is very important in the basic research and application in the efficient removal of 2-MIB from potable water sources.