Degradation of pinene by Bacillus pallidus BR425

An aerobic thermophile has been isolated from an a-pinene enrichment cultur e. The isolate, which was designated BR425, has been tentatively identified as Bacillus pallidus using 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing and organism morphology. Monophasic and biphasic incubations of BR425 cells with alpha-p inene, beta-pinene, and limonene yielded a number of oxidized monoterpene m etabolites with carveol as a common metabolite. A pinene degradation pathwa y with carveol and carvone as central metabolic intermediates is suggested.