Hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) is a military explosive that is a common soil and groundwater contaminant at facilities that manufacture, handle, and dispose of munitions. The chemical is reported to pose a significant risk to human health and consequently there has been interest in the biodegradation of RDX and the bacteria involved.
NCIMB 14238 Shewanella candadensis (HAW-EB2T) is one of a number of different species and strains that have been found to degrade RDX. This strain was added to the NCIMB reference collection in 2006, after it was isolated from marine sediment sampled from the Atlantic Ocean, near Halifax harbour in Canada.
The Shewanella genus of marine bacteria was named after British bacteriologist J.M. Shewan who was the first curator of the NCIMB culture collection.
NCIMB provides specialist microbiology, chemical
analysis
and biomaterial storage products and services to support customers in
their
quality control procedures, research and development projects,
intellectual
property protection and compliance with environmental regulations. We
also manages the National Collection of Industrial Food and Marine
Bacteria – the
biggest reference collection of industrially and environmentally
valuable
bacteria, actinomycetes and bacteriophages in the UK.
