ISSN 1017-2548(Print)
ISSN 2234-8530(Online)
Volume 53, Number 3
JKCSEZ 53(3)
June 20, 2009 

Many bacteria that are capable to tolerate and degrade organic solvents have been isolated from seawater. However, their roles in the biodegradation of organic solvents in the marine environment have remained unknown. Aeromonas hydrophila IBB_Ct4, isolated from Constanta seawater, was able to tolerate and degrade different organic solvents. Toluene, styrene, xylene isomers, ethylbenzene, with the logarithm of the partition coefficient in octanol-water mixture (log P_OW) between 2.64 and 3.17, were more toxic for bacterial cells, compared with propylbenzene, n-hexane, n-heptane, with log P_OW between 3.69 and 4.39. There were revealed cellular and molecular modifications induced by organic solvents to Aeromonas hydrophila IBB_Ct4. The study of cellular and molecular modifications induced by different organic solvents showed a complex response of bacterial cells to the presence of organic solvents in the culture media.