[Role of phenol-decomposing microorganisms in the process of phenol destruction in the Black Sea]

The number and species of phenol decomposing microorganisms, as well as the activity of their biochemical oxidation of phenol, were studied in waters of the shelf zone of the Black Sea, from the Danube estuary to Batumi. The number of these microorganisms and their phenol decomposing activity were higher in waters near harbours than in regions outside the anthropogenic activity. These parameters were highest in contaminated waters of the river origin. Most of these phenol decomposing microorganisms belong to the genera Pseudomonas and Bacterium, with the predominance of the species of Bacterium album and Pseudomonas desmolyticum (subspecis Pseudomonas rathionis).