Characterization of chlorobenzoate degraders isolated from polychlorinatedbiphenyl-contaminated soil and sediment in the Czech Republic

Two polychlorinated biphenyl-contaminated sites in the Czech Republic, a so il at Zamberk and a sediment sludge at Milevsko, were screened for the pres ence of chlorobenzoate degraders. Sixteen different chlorobenzoate degrader s were isolated from the soil compared with only three strains isolated fro m the sediment. From these strains, only four soil degraders and one strain isolated from the sediment, respectively, were shown to possess a complete chlorobenzoate (CB) pathway. Bacteria isolated from the soil have expresse d more flexibility for CB degradation, namely in the case of ortho-chlorina ted benzoates, They all possessed large plasmids, the restriction patterns of which were compared. Plasmids in Pseudomonas sp. A7, A8, A18 and A19, re spectively, were cured and found to encode at least part of the metabolic p athway involved in the growth on ortho-chlorinated benzoates.