CHAR ACTERIZA T ION OF THR EE BENZO A TE DEG RADING ANOX YGENIC PH OTOSYNTHETIC BA CTERI A ISO LA TED F RO M THE ENVIRONMENT

Three anoxygenic photosyn thetic bacter ia, DS-1, DS-4 and Cas-13, have been exam in ated for their morphological and physiolog ical propert ies. All s trains were rod-sh ape ce lls with a swollen terminal end, Gram nega tive , motile, non-hal ophilic, non-alkal ophilic a n d non- acid ophilic , a nd capable of utilizing benzoate aerobically and photo-anaerobically. Sequ ence analysis of part of 16S rRNA genes showed that DS-1 and Cas- 13 we re cl osel y relate d to Rhodopseudomonas palustris Stra in 7 w ith a simila ri ty of 97%, where a s DS-4 ma y not be c losel y rela te d t o the former t wo str ai ns wit h a si milarit y of 78% based on t he constr ucte d phyloge nic tree . Sp ec tral anal ys is ind ica te d that the thr ee ba cter ia ha d ba cter io ch lorophyl a and norm al sp ir il loxa nthi n ser ies. Growth in med ium enriched with vitamin and supplemen ted with ben zoa te as their s ole C-s ources wa s bette r t han in me di um witho ut vita min. Benz oate deg ra dati on in me di u m with vita min was ac ce lerated. The ab ility to grow on benzoate withou t added vitam ins ind icated that the bacteria were able to s ynthesize th eir own vitamins.