Abstract

Several 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) degrading bacteria were isolated from an activated sludge by an enrichment culture technique, and their TNT removal activities were examined. Among the isolates, strain C1 showed the highest degrading capability, and completely removed 100 or 200 mg l^-1 of TNT within 6 hours of incubation. This bacterium was identified as Klebsiella sp. The effects of different carbon sources on the removal of the parent TNT by Klebsiella sp. C1 were negligible, but the transformation rates of TNT metabolites such as amino-dinitrotoluenes and diamino-nitrotoluenes were higher with fructose addition compared to glucose addition. When nitrate was used as the nitrogen source, the degradation rates of TNT and hydroxylamino-dinitrotoluenes were higher than those with the ammonium addition. Although the TNT removal rate of Klebsiella sp. C1 was slightly higher in anaerobic conditions, the further transformations of TNT metabolites were more favorable in aerobic conditions.

• Keywords: 2;4;6-trinitrotoluene biodegradation; aerobic degradation; anaerobic degradation