Isolation and characterization of the ethynylestradiol-biodegrading microorganism Fusarium proliferatum strain HNS-1.

We cultivated hundreds of sediment, soil, and manure samples taken from rivers and farms in a medium containing ethynylestradiol (EE2) as the sole source of carbon, so that microorganisms in the samples would acclimatize to the presence of EE2. Finally, we isolated an EE2-degrading microorganism, designated as strain HNS-1, from a cowshed sample. Based on its partial nucleotide sequence (563 bp) of the 28S rRNA gene, strain HNS-1 was identified as Fusarium proliferatum. Over 15 days, F. proliferatum strain HNS-1 removed 97% of EE2 at an initial concentration of 25 mg.L-1, with a first-order rate constant of 0.6 d-1. Unknown products of EE2 degradation, which may be more polar compounds that have a phenolic group, remained in the culture medium.