Biodegradation of paracetamol by Amycolatopsis sp. Poz 14

Paracetamol is widely used throughout the world and its high consumption has led to its detection in the environment as an emerging contaminant. In this work, the actinobacterium Amycolatopsis sp. Poz14 is proposed as a new bacterium with the ability to degrade paracetamol.

Poz14 was grown in minimal media supplemented with paracetamol at 100 mg L^- 1, achieving a specific growth rate of 0.42 d^- 1 and a degradation efficiency of 42%, equivalent to 58 mg L^- 1 at 21 days. Adding yeast extract increased the specific growth rate to 0.66 d^- 1 and reduced the paracetamol concentration to 29 mg L^- 1, achieving 71% efficiency at 21 days. In addition, catechol 1,2-dioxygenase, catechol 2,3-dioxygenase, and protocatechuate 4,5-dioxygenase demonstrated activity exclusively in cell extracts of Poz14 grown with paracetamol. These results demonstrate that Amycolatopsis sp. Poz14 uses paracetamol as a carbon and energy source for growth, where the enzymes catechol and protocatechuate dioxygenases are involved.