Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) is a widely used plasticizer, whose presence in the environment as a pollutant raises concern because of its endocrine-disrupting toxicity. Growth kinetics, glucose uptake, biodegradation constant of DBP (k), half-life of DBP biodegradation (t1/2) and percentage of removal efficiency (%E) were evaluated for Fusarium culmorum grown on media containing glucose and different concentrations of DBP (500 and 1000 mg/l). Intermediate compounds of biodegraded DBP were identified by GC-MS and a novel DBP biodegradation pathway was proposed on the basis of the intermolecular flow of electrons of the intermediates identified using quantum chemical modeling. F. culmorum degraded 99% of both 1000 and 500 mg of DBP/l after an incubation period of 168 and 228 h, respectively. %E was 99.5 and 99.3 for 1000 and 500 mg of DBP/l, respectively. The k was 0.0164 and 0.0231 h-1 for 500 and 1000 mg of DBP/l, respectively. DBP was fully metabolized to fumaric and malic acids, which are compounds that enter into the Krebs cycle. F. culmorum has a promising ability for bioremediation of environments polluted with DBP because it efficiently degrades DBP and uses high concentrations of this compound as carbon and energy source.
Keywords: Constant of biodegradation; Dibutyl phthalate; Fusarium culmorum; Quantum chemical modeling; Removal efficiency.