Isolation and Characterization of a Nicotine-degrading Strain Z7 / 中国生物工程杂志

A nicotine-degrading bacterial strain Z7 was isolated from tobacco growing soil at Zhangjiajie region in Hunan Province.The morphology,physiological and biochemical characteristics of strain Z7 were studied and the results showed that characteristics of this strain were essentially consistent with Agrobacterium radiobacter/tumefaciens.This strain degraded nicotine optimally at 30℃ and initial pH 7.0.It was able to utilize nicotine as its sole carbon source,and it could degrade 71% of nicotine under the optimized incubation conditions for 48 h.Meanwhile,the color of culture medium turned from yellowy to green and dark green,then it turned to brown.This strain might have potential applications in tobacco industry.