Method for obtaining organic solvent-resistant microorganisms and organic solvent-resistant microorganisms obtainable by the method

摘要

The present invention provides a method for obtaining organic solvent-resistant microorganisms which comprise subjecting a microbial parent strain to mutagenesis and then to selective cultivation in the presence of an organic solvent, and organic solvent-resistant microorganisms obtainable by the method. According to the present invention, a microorganism which is natively hydrophilic and has useful functions but does not show resistance to organic solvents and cannot express the useful functions in the organic solvents could be converted into a microorganism capable of growing in organic solvents and expressing useful functions that the hydrophilic parent strain bears natively. In addition, a bio-desulfurization bacterium capable of decomposing hardly removable organic sulfur compounds under microaerobic conditions in the presence of organic solvents could be obtained by the use of a bacterium belonging to the genus Pseudomonas as the parent strain.