Abstract:
The population of resorcinol degrading bacteria in the intestinal tract of fungi-cultivating termite,
Macrotermes michaelseni, was estimated to be 6.8 × 102 cells/ml. A gram-positive bacterium designated
RW, capable of degrading resorcinol, was isolated from the highest positive dilution. Isolate RW could
also degrade phenol and benzoic acid aerobically, and anaerobically using nitrate as an electron
acceptor. The isolate is a rod-shaped bacterium that exhibited evolutionary relatedness with the genus
Rhodococcus, as determined by phenotypic traits and physiological tests, and a 16S rRNA gene
sequence similarity value of 99.6% to the closest Rhodococcus opacus strain. On the basis of these
results isolate RW is proposed as a new strain in the species R. opacus. The ability of the isolate to
degrade resorcinol, phenol and benzoic acid makes it a potential candidate for use in bioremediation of
environments contaminated by such or related compounds.
