Characteristics of a Microcystin-Degrading Bacterium under Alkaline Environmental Conditions.pdfVIP

Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Toxicology Volume 2009, Article ID 954291, 8 pages doi:10.1155/2009/954291 Research Article Characteristics of a Microcystin-Degrading Bacterium under Alkaline Environmental Conditions Kunihiro Okano,1, 2 Kazuya Shimizu,1 Yukio Kawauchi,3 Hideaki Maseda,4 Motoo Utsumi,1 Zhenya Zhang,1 Brett A. Neilan,5 and Norio Sugiura1 1 Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan 2 Graduate School of Bioresource Science, Akita Prefectural University, 241-438 Kaidobata-Nishi, Nakano Shimoshinjo, Akita 010-0195, Japan 3 Mitsubishi Chemical Analytech Co. Ltd., 8-5-1 Tyuuou, Ami, Inashikigun, Ibaraki 300-0332, Japan 4 Faculty of Engineering, The University of Tokushima, 2-1 Minamijosanjima-cho, Tokushima, Tokushima 770-8506, Japan 5 School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia Correspondence should be addressed to Norio Sugiura, cyasugi@sakura.cc.tsukuba.ac.jp Received 23 September 2009; Accepted 1 December 2009 Recommended by Michael Cunningham The pH of the water associated with toxic blooms of cyanobacteria is typically in the alkaline range; however, previously only microcystin-degrading bacteria growing in neutral pH conditions have been isolated. Therefore, we sought to isolate and characterize an alkali-tolerant microcystin-degrading bacterium from a water bloom using microcystin-LR. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that the isolated bacterium belonged to the genus Sphingopyxis, and the strain was named C-1. Sphingopyxis sp. C-1 can grow; at pH 11.0; however, the optimum pH for growth was pH 7.0. The microcystin degradation a