J. Gen. Appl. Microbiol., 53, 221–228 (2007)

Degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), including polychlorinated dioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs), by microorganisms has received much attention in connection with natural attenuation and bioremediation of xenobiotic pollution (Hiraishi, 2003; Wittich, 1998). Large numbers of aromaticand PAHdegrading bacteria from polluted environments have been isolated and characterized. The so-called sphingomonads represent a major group of the aromaticcompound-degrading alphaproteobacteria frequently isolated from polluted environments (Leys et al., 2004; Pinyakong et al., 2003; Yabuuchi et al., 2001). In particular, members of the genus Novosphingobium, which was created to reclassify some species of the genus Sphingomonas by Takeuchi et al. (2001), are aromatic-compound degraders in general (Balkwill et al., 1997; Fujii et al., 2003; Liu et al., 2005; Sohn et al., Novosphingobium naphthalenivorans sp. nov., a naphthalene-degrading bacterium isolated from polychlorinated-dioxin-contaminated environments