Female sex hormone degrading bacteria and use thereof

摘要

The present invention provides female sex hormone degrading bacteria belonging to the genus Novosphingobium, Sphingomonas or Ochrobactrum and having at least one of the property (a) the ability to degrade at least ethynylestradiol; the property (b) the ability to degrade at least 17 beta -estradiol and/or estrone, and having a degradation rate constant k1 for 17 beta -estradiol and/or estrone of 0.05 or more; and the property (c) the ability to degrade at least 17 beta -estradiol and/or estrone, and having the ability to decrease the concentration of 17 beta -estradiol and/or estrone, contained in wastewater, to less than 10 ng/L. These bacteria can efficiently degrade various female sex hormones, including recalcitrant synthetic female sex hormones, to such very low concentrations as not to affect the environment, and can easily be cultured and proliferated.