Abstract: A kind of bacterial strain, T1, having the function of converting dibenzothiophene (DBT) to 2-hydroxybiphenyl (2-HBP) was cultured and isolated from crude oil contaminated soil, and it was preliminarily identified as a member of Arthrobacter.sp. Strain. At a DBT concentration of 0.5 mmol/L, T1 bacterial strain exhibited high desulfurization activity. As compared with using sodium sulfate or dimethyl sulphoxide as the single sulfur source, when using DBT T1 was easy to be cultured and to exhibit its sulfur converting function. The existence of sodium sulfate and 2-HBP strongly suppressed the growth of T1 and its desulfurization activity, e.g. only a few 2-HBP was generated by strain in culture with a sodium sulfate initial concentration of 0.5 mmol/L, and the cell–growth of T1 slowed down significantly when the 2-HBP concentration reached 0.5 mmol/L.

Key words: biodesulfurization, dibenzothiophene, 2-hydroxybiopheny