| The number of phenol-decomposing microorganisms is found to decrease regularly in all seasons while moving forward from the littoral zones into the open sea. The highest number of bacteria possessing a high phenol-decomposing activity was isolated in ports and adjoining water areas. Phenol is stated to most actively decay in water taken from the places when the pollution with this toxicant is the highest. Phenol bio-decay is shown to be most effective under the influence of temperature and biogenic salt K2HPO4. Studies of the most important biochemical components of the bacterial cell, DNA, RNA, free nucleotides, lipids and protein, in the process of phenol biodegradation by the Bacterium album culture reveal a considerable decrease in total protein and a... |
