A novel moderately halophilic bacterium for decolorizing azo dye under high salt condition.

Halomonas sp strain GTW was newly isolated from coastal sediments contaminated by chemical wastewater and was identified to be a member of the genus Halomonas by 16S rDNA sequence analysis and physical and biochemical tests. The optimal decolorization conditions were as follows: temperature 30 degrees C, pH 6.5.0-8.5, NaCl 10-20% (w/v) and the optimal carbon source was yeast exact. The results of experiments demonstrated that the bacteria could decolorize different azo dyes under high salt concentration conditions, and the decolorization rate of five tested azo dyes could be above 90% in 24 h. The exploitation of the salt-tolerant bacteria in the bio-treatment system would be a great improvement of conventional biological treatment systems and the bio-treatment concept.