Novel pollutant-resistant methylotrophic bacteria for use in bioremediation.

Thirty one novel methylotrophic bacterial strains were isolated from a range of soil and sediment sources (both pristine and polluted) under different enrichment regimes. They were characterised physiologically and classified by their 16S rRNA gene sequence. A great taxonomical and phenotypical variety was recovered. Some of the isolates display interesting features of resistance to heavy metals, arsenate or organic pollution and four can be considered real 'super-bugs' for their ability to withstand extremely high concentrations of a variety of pollutants. A description of the 31 strains is presented in this work.