Isolation of a bacterium capable of degrading peanut hull lignin

Thirty-seven bacterial strains capable of degrading peanut hull lignin were isolated by using four types of lignin preparations and hot-water-extracted peanut hulls. One of the isolates, tentatively identified as Arthrobacter sp., was capable of utilizing all four lignin preparations as well as extracted peanut hulls as a sole source of carbon. The bacterium was also capable of degrading specifically labeled [C]lignin-labeled lignocellulose and [C]cellulose-labeled lignocellulose from the cordgrass Spartina alterniflora and could also degrade [C]Kraft lignin from slash pine. After 10 days of incubation with [C]cellulose-labeled lignocellulose or [C]lignin-labeled lignocellulose from S. alterniflora, the bacterium mineralized 6.5% of the polysaccharide component and 2.9% of the lignin component.