Abstract:
Microcystins (MC) and nodularin (NOD) are common contaminants of drinking water around the
world and due to their significant health impact it is important to explore suitable approaches
for their removal. Unfortunately, these toxins are not always removed by conventional water
treatments. One of the most exciting areas that hold promise for a successful and cost effective
solution is bioremediation of microcystins. Recent work resulted in successful isolation and
characterisation of 10 novel bacterial strains (Rhodococcus sp., Arthrobacter spp. and
Brevibacterium sp.) capable of metabolizing microcystin-LR (MC-LR) in a Biolog MT2 assay. The
work presented here aims to further investigate and evaluate the metabolism and the degradation
of multiple microcystins (MC-LR, MC-LF, MC-LY, MC-LW and MC-RR) and nodularin by the bacterial
isolates. A total of five bacterial isolates representing the three genera were evaluated using
Biolog MT2 assay with a range of MCs where they all demonstrated an overall metabolism on
all MCs and NOD. Subsequently, the results were confirmed by observing the degradation of
the range of toxins in a separate batch experiment.
