Biodegradation of Di-(2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate by Rhodococcus ruber YC-YT1 in Contaminated Water and Soil

Ting Yang, Lei Ren, Yang Jia, Shuanghu Fan, Junhuan Wang, Jiayi Wang, Ruth Nahurira, Haisheng Wang and Yanchun Yan
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Ting Yang: Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Lei Ren: Agricultural College of Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang 524088, China
Yang Jia: Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Shuanghu Fan: Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Junhuan Wang: Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Jiayi Wang: Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Ruth Nahurira: Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Haisheng Wang: Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Yanchun Yan: Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-20

Abstract: Di-(2-ethylehxyl) phthalate (DEHP) is one of the most broadly representative phthalic acid esters (PAEs) used as a plasticizer in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) production, and is considered to be an endocrine-disrupting chemical. DEHP and its monoester metabolites are responsible for adverse effects on human health. An efficient DEHP-degrading bacterial strain Rhodococcus ruber YC-YT1, with super salt tolerance (0–12% NaCl), is the first DEHP-degrader isolated from marine plastic debris found in coastal saline seawater. Strain YC-YT1 completely degraded 100 mg/L DEHP within three days (pH 7.0, 30 °C). According to high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) analysis, DEHP was transformed by strain YC-YT1 into phthalate (PA) via mono (2-ethylehxyl) phthalate (MEHP), then PA was used for cell growth. Furthermore, YC-YT1 metabolized initial concentrations of DEHP ranging from 0.5 to 1000 mg/L. Especially, YC-YT1 degraded up to 60% of the 0.5 mg/L initial DEHP concentration. Moreover, compared with previous reports, strain YC-YT1 had the largest substrate spectrum, degrading up to 13 kinds of PAEs as well as diphenyl, p-nitrophenol, PA, benzoic acid, phenol, protocatechuic acid, salicylic acid, catechol, and 1,2,3,3-tetrachlorobenzene. The excellent environmental adaptability of strain YC-YT1 contributed to its ability to adjust its cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH) so that 79.7–95.9% of DEHP-contaminated agricultural soil, river water, coastal sediment, and coastal seawater were remedied. These results demonstrate that R. ruber YC-YT1 has vast potential to bioremediate various DEHP-contaminated environments, especially in saline environments.

Keywords: biodegradation; di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate; Rhodococcus ruber; marine plastic debris; bioremediation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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