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Updated: May 7, 2026

Isolation and Screening from Soil Biodiversity for Fungi Involved in the Degradation of Recalcitrant Materials
Published on: May 16, 2022
The screening of microorganisms capable of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) biodegradation
Andrzej Wieczorek1, Krystyna Przybulewska, Katarzyna Karpowicz
1Institute of Chemistry and Fundamentals of Environmental Protection, West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland. anwiecz@zut.edu.pl
Abstract:
As a result of examinations carried out, 16 strains of microorganisms able to grow on mineral media with methyl tert-butyl ether as the sole source of carbon and energy were isolated. Bacteria prevailed among the isolated microorganisms. The growth of microorganisms under laboratory conditions was long and accompanied by low biomass increase. Under the conditions of the experiment, the isolated microorganisms did not show any quantitatively measurable biodegradability of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) under aerobic conditions. This requires far-reaching caution with respect to trading in MTBE-modified petrols in order to protect the natural environment in Poland against contamination with that hard-to-biodegrade substance.
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