Metabolism of diphenylurea by a Marinobacter sp. isolated from a contaminated ephemeral stream bed in the Negev Desert

A moderate halophilic Marinobacter sp. (designated strain DPUZ) able to metabolize 1,3-diphenylurea (DPU) was isolated from a contaminated ephemeral desert stream bed near an industrial complex in the northern part of the Negev Desert (Israel). Metabolism of DPU was accompanied by a transient accumulation of a metabolite identified as aniline using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, thus indicating a metabolic pathway involving cleavage of the urea bridge between the phenyl structures. Aniline was further degraded without detection of other metabolites suggesting a complete degradation. Strain DPUZ grows at NaCl concentrations between 0.2 and 2.6 M with an optimum at 0.51 M. It grows at a temperature range between 20 and 40°C with an optimum at 35°C. This is the first study on bacterial metabolism of DPU.