THE EFFECT OF CYCLODEXTRIN ON THE DESTRUCTION OF PHENOL BY BACTERIA <i>PSEUDOMONAS STUTZERI</i> AND <i>PAENIBACILLUS MACERANS</i> IN THE AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT
Cyclodextrins (CD) by their chemical nature are typical "host molecules" that can encapsulate a wide range of molecules, one or two benzene rings, including a phenolic ring. CDs can affect the bioavailability of contaminants during biodegradation, as well as the toxicity of the contaminant to microorganisms due to their ability to form inclusion complexes with organic compounds. In this work, the phenol destructor strains Pseudomonas stutzeri IB-I6C and Paenibacillus macerans IB-I4 were used, which have different growth characteristics in relation to the tested substrates: phenol (200 µg/ml) and CD (2 mg/ml). It was shown that when cultivating strains on a nutrient medium containing phenol+cyclodextrin, the degradation potential of bacteria in relation to phenol significantly increases. The amount of residual phenol in the presence of CD for P. stutzeri IB-I6C culture decreased by 8% by the end of cultivation, and for P. macerans IB-I4 this value was 10%. In the presence of CD in the medium, the time to achieve the maximum possible destruction of phenol was almost halved for both destructor strains. The rate of phenol consumption by pseudomonas IB-I6C in the presence of CD increased by 1,36 times, and utilization by the P. macerans strain IB-I4 was 1,31 times faster. The positive effect of CD in the destruction of phenol was found even in the case when CD is poorly utilized by the microorganism, as is observed in the strain P. stutzeri IB-I6C.