Biodegradation of 2-hydroxyl-1,4 naphthoquinone (lawsone) by Pseudomonas taiwanensis LH-3 isolated from activated sludge

2-hydroxy-1,4 naphthoquinone (lawsone) is widely used and induces environmental pollutions during its production and application. In the present study, a lawsone-degrading bacterium strain, LH-3 was successfully isolated from the activated sludge. Based on the 16S rRNA gene analysis, the strain LH-3 phylogenetically belonged to the Pseudomonas taiwanensis. It could degrade 200 mg L^-1 lawsone completely in 9 h with an inoculum quantity of 1% (v/v). The effects of environmental conditions on the degradation process and the degradation pathway were systematically investigated. LH-3 could maintain its high degradation efficiency under high salt condition. The identified intermediates of salicylic acid, 2-hydroxy-4-oxo-chroman-2-carboxylic acid, and catechol elucidated the potential degradation pathway. Furthermore, the immobilized LH-3 strain cells prepared with alginate gel and biochar performed excellent stability in nine successive degradation runs. It could sucessfully survive in laboratory scale sequencing batch reactor and become to be the dominant species. This study clearly revealed that LH-3 could serve as an attractive candidate for the microbial remediation of lawsone-containing wastewater.