Fungus degrades bisphenol.

Mercian Corp. (Tokyo; mercian.co.jp), in cooperation with Japan's National Inst. of Bioscience & Human Technology (Tsukuba), has discovered a microorganism that mediates the complete degradation of bisphenol A, an endocrine disrupter, by the enzyme laccase. This compares with only about 70% degradation for laccase until now, even in the presence of such synthetic mediators as 1-hydroxybenzotriazole. This is because the enzyme is inactivated as degradation progresses, says Mercian. …