Ochrobactrum anthropi infection following corneal transplantation -a case report and review of literature.

BACKGROUND: Ochrobactrum anthropi is widely distributed and primarily infects patients with compromised immune functions . Historically, O. anthropi has been considered to possess low toxicity and pathogenicity; however, recent studies suggest that it may in fact cause severe purulent infections. In this case study, we examine a case of O. anthropi infection following corneal transplantation, exploring the occurrence and outcomes of such post-operative infections. CASE PRESENTATION: A retrospective analysis of cases involved examinations, genetic testing for diagnosis, and subsequent treatment. In patients undergoing partial penetrating keratoplasty with a fungal corneal ulcer perforation, anterior chamber exudation and purulence were observed post-surgery. Despite antifungal treatment, genetic testing of the anterior chamber fluid and purulent material confirmed O. anthropi infection. The use of antimicrobial treatment specifically targeting O. anthropi was found to be effective in treating the infection. CONCLUSION: Inflammatory reactions following corneal transplantation should be should be monitored for the presence of other infections. Genetic testing has significant implications for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Biosynthesis of vanillic acid by Ochrobactrum anthropi and its applications.

Vanillic acid has always been in high-demand in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food, flavor, alcohol and polymer industries. Present study achieved highly pure synthesis of vanillic acid from vanillin using whole cells of Ochrobactrum anthropi strain T5_1. The complete biotransformation of vanillin (2 g/L) in to vanillic acid (2.2 g/L) with 95 % yield was achieved in single step in 7 h, whereas 5 g/L vanillin was converted to vanillic acid in 31 h. The vanillic acid thus produced was validated using LC-MS, GC-MS, FTIR and NMR. Further, vanillic acid was evaluated for in vitro anti-tyrosinase and cytotoxic properties on B16F1 skin cell line in dose dependent manner with IC50 values of 15.84 mM and 9.24 mM respectively. The in silico Swiss target study predicted carbonic acid anhydrase IX and XII as key targets of vanillic acid inside the B16F1 skin cell line and revealed the possible mechanism underlying cell toxicity. Molecular docking indicated a strong linkage between vanillic acid and tyrosinase through four hydrogen and several hydrophobic bonds, with ΔG of -3.36 kJ/mol and Ki of 3.46 mM. The bioavailability of vanillic acid was confirmed by the Swiss ADME study with no violation of Lipinski's five rules.

Ochrobactrum anthropi infection in dialysis patients: A case report and literature summary.

INTRODUCTION: Ochrobactrum anthropi, a ubiquitous Gram-negative bacterium of low virulence, is an increasingly recognized cause of infection in immunocompromised hosts such as patients with kidney failure treated by dialysis. CASE REPORT: We report the case of a male hemodialysis patient with a central venous catheter, who developed an asymptomatic blood stream infection caused by Ochrobactrum anthropi. The infection was cured, and the dialysis catheter salvaged with intravenous meropenem and an antibiotic lock solution with ciprofloxacin. CONCLUSION: We identified 13 further cases of Ochrobactrum infection in hemodialysis patients and 10 cases in peritoneal dialysis patients in the literature. Antibiotic treatment depends on the results of susceptibility testing. In many patients, however, removal of the central venous or peritoneal dialysis catheter is required to cure the infection.

Active-site engineering of ω-transaminase from Ochrobactrum anthropi for preparation of L-2-aminobutyric acid.

BACKGROUND: The unnatural amino acid, L-2-aminobutyric acid (L-ABA) is an essential chiral building block for various pharmaceutical drugs, such as the antiepileptic drug levetiracetam and the antituberculosis drug ethambutol. The present study aims at obtaining variants of ω-transaminase from Ochrobactrum anthropi (OATA) with high catalytic activity to α-ketobutyric acid through protein engineering. RESULTS: Based on the docking model using α-ketobutyric acid as the ligand, 6 amino acid residues, consisting of Y20, L57, W58, G229, A230 and M419, were chosen for saturation mutagenesis. The results indicated that L57C, M419I, and A230S substitutions demonstrated the highest elevation of enzymatic activity among 114 variants. Subsequently, double substitutions combining L57C and M419I caused a further increase of the catalytic efficiency to 3.2-fold. This variant was applied for threonine deaminase/OATA coupled reaction in a 50-mL reaction system with 300 mM L-threonine as the substrate. The reaction was finished in 12 h and the conversion efficiency of L-threonine into L-ABA was 94%. The purity of L-ABA is 75%, > 99% ee. The yield of L-ABA was 1.15 g. CONCLUSION: This study provides a basis for further engineering of ω-transaminase for producing chiral amines from keto acids substrates.

A novel global transcriptional perturbation target identified by forward genetics reprograms Vibrio natriegens for improving recombinant protein production.

Vibrio natriegens is known to be the fastest-growing free-living bacterium with the potential to be a novel protein expression system other than Escherichia coli. Seven sampled genes of interest (GOIs) encoding biocatalyst enzymes, including Ochrobactrum anthropi-derived ω-transaminase (OATA), were strongly expressed in E. coli but weakly in V. natriegens using the pET expression system. In this study, we fused the C-terminal of OATA with green fluorescent protein (GFP) and obtained V. natriegens mutants that could increase both protein yield and enzyme activity of OATA as well as the other three GOIs by ultraviolet mutagenesis, fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), and OATA colorimetric assay. Furthermore, next-generation sequencing and strain reconstruction revealed that the Y457 variants in the conserved site of endogenous RNA polymerase (RNAP) ß' subunit rpoC are responsible for the increase in recombinant protein yield. We speculated that the mutation of rpoC Y457 may reprogram V. natriegens's innate gene transcription, thereby increasing the copy number of pET plasmids and soluble protein yield of certain GOIs. The increase in GOI expression may partly be attributed to the increase in copy number. In conclusion, GOI-GFP fusion combined with FACS is a powerful tool of forward genetics that can be used to obtain a superior expression chassis. If more high-expression-related targets are found for more GOIs, it would make the construction of next-generation protein expression chassis more time-saving.

Evaluating the Effect of Azole Antifungal Agents on the Stress Response and Nanomechanical Surface Properties of Ochrobactrum anthropi Aspcl2.2.

Azole antifungal molecules are broadly used as active ingredients in various products, such as pharmaceuticals and pesticides. This promotes their release into the natural environment. The detailed mechanism of their influence on the biotic components of natural ecosystems remains unexplored. Our research aimed to examine the response of Ochrobactrum anthropi AspCl2.2 to the presence of four azole antifungal agents (clotrimazole, fluconazole, climbazole, epoxiconazole). The experiments performed include analysis of the cell metabolic activity, cell membrane permeability, total glutathione level and activity of glutathione S-transferases. These studies allowed for the evaluation of the cells' oxidative stress response to the presence of azole antifungals. Moreover, changes in the nanomechanical surface properties, including adhesive and elastic features of the cells, were investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and spectrophotometric methods. The results indicate that the azoles promote bacterial oxidative stress. The strongest differences were noted for the cells cultivated with fluconazole. The least toxic effect has been attributed to climbazole. AFM observations unraveled molecular details of bacterial cell texture, structure and surface nanomechanical properties. Antifungals promote the nanoscale modification of the bacterial cell wall. The results presented provided a significant insight into the strategies used by environmental bacterial cells to survive exposures to toxic azole antifungal agents.

Genomic and biotechnological insights on stress-linked polyphosphate production induced by chromium(III) in Ochrobactrum anthropi DE2010.

The resistance of microorganisms to heavy metals in polluted environments is mediated by genetically determined mechanisms. One such mechanism includes the intracellular sequestration of heavy metals in polyphosphate (polyP) inclusions. In Cr(III) contaminated mediums, Ochrobactrum anthropi DE2010 is able to bind and sequester Cr(III) in polyP inclusions. In order to further study the relationship between Cr(III) tolerance and polyP production in O. anthropi DE2010, we carried out whole genomic sequencing, analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), polyP chemical quantification, and determination of the relative abundance and morphometry of polyP inclusions. In the O. anthropi DE2010 genome, six polyP and pyrophosphate (PPi) metabolic genes were found. Furthermore, genomic analysis via SNPs calling revealed that O. anthropi ATCC49188 and DE2010 strains had average variations of 1.51% in their whole genome sequences and 1.35% variation associated with the principal polyP metabolic gene cluster. In addition, the accumulation of polyP in the DE2010 strain and number of polyP inclusions found were directly correlated with the concentration of Cr(III) in contaminated cultures. The results presented in this study may enhance the understanding of polyP production in response to Cr(III) toxicity in the O. anthropi DE2010 strain. This knowledge may facilitate the successful removal of Cr(III) from the natural environment.

Reclassification of Ochrobactrum lupini as a later heterotypic synonym of Ochrobactrum anthropi based on whole-genome sequence analysis.

The genus Ochrobactrum belongs to the family Brucellaceae and its members are known to be adapted to a wide range of ecological niches. Ochrobactrum anthropi ATCC 49188T and Ochrobactrum lupini LUP21T are strains isolated from human clinical and plant root nodule samples, respectively, which share high similarity for phylogenetic markers (i.e 100 % for 16S rRNA, 99.9 % for dnaK and 99.35 % for rpoB). In this work, multiple genome average nucleotide identity (ANI) approaches, digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) and phylogenetic analysis were performed in order to investigate the taxonomic relationship between O. anthropi ATCC 49188T, O. lupini LUP21T, and other five type strains from the genus Ochrobactrum. Whole-genome comparisons demonstrated that O. lupini LUP21T and the Ochrobactrum genus type species, O. anthropi ATCC 49188T, share 97.55 % of ANIb, 98.25 % of ANIm, 97.99 % of gANI, 97.94 % of OrthoANI and 83.9 % of dDDH, which exceed the species delineation thresholds. These strains are also closely related in phylogenies reconstructed from a concatenation of 1193 sequences from single-copy ortholog genes. A review of their profiles revealed that O. anthropi ATCC 49188T and O. lupini LUP21T do not present pronounced differences at phenotypic and chemotaxonomic levels. Considering phylogenetic, genomic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data, O. lupini should be considered a later heterotypic synonym of O. anthropi.

Biosynthesis of bismuth selenide nanoparticles using chalcogen-metabolizing bacteria.

Cost and energy reductions in the production process of bismuth chalcogenide (BC) semiconductor materials are essential to make thermoelectric generators comprised of BCs profitable and CO2 neutral over their life cycle. In this study, as an eco-friendly production method, bismuth selenide (Bi2Se3) nanoparticles were synthesized using the following five strains of chalcogen-metabolizing bacteria: Pseudomonas stutzeri NT-I, Pseudomonas sp. RB, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia TI-1, Ochrobactrum anthropi TI-2, and O. anthropi TI-3 under aerobic conditions. All strains actively volatilized selenium (Se) by reducing selenite, possibly to organoselenides. In the growth media containing bismuth (Bi) and Se, all strains removed Bi and Se concomitantly and synthesized nanoparticles containing Bi and Se as their main components. Particles synthesized by strain NT-I had a theoretical elemental composition of Bi2Se3, whereas those synthesized by other strains contained a small amount of sulfur in addition to Bi and Se, making strain NT-I the best Bi2Se3 synthesizer among the strains used in this study. The particle sizes were 50-100 nm in diameter, which is sufficiently small for nanostructured semiconductor materials that exhibit quantum size effect. Successful synthesis of Bi2Se3 nanoparticles could be attributed to the high Se-volatilizing activities of the bacterial strains. Selenol-containing compounds as intermediates of Se-volatilizing metabolic pathways, such as methane selenol and selenocysteine, may play an important role in biosynthesis of Bi2Se3.

[Bacteraemia caused by ochrobactrum anthropi - unusual behavior].

O. anthropi, formerly known as Achromobacter, is an aerobic, Gram-negative bacillus, widespread in the environment, in various ecological niches. Currently, it is an emerging opportunistic microorganism associated with health care, as well as infections in people with immunodeficiency, mainly in children and newborns. The authors of the presented work present a case of a 13-year-old female patient with a neurodegenerative disorder in which O. anthropi was isolated from blood cultures. She was hospitalized in the Social Society of the Cordis Hospice in Katowice, and after discharge from the hospice she was covered by long-term home care under the supervision of a family doctor. Clinical picture O. anthropi can be very different, causes serious infections, such as blood infections. Due to difficulties in identification, Ochrobactrum anthropi can be a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. The difficulty in differentiating Ochrobactrum spp. Is also related to the lack of a clear clinical picture of infection with bactera O.anthropi. In addition, this microorganism is difficult to treat due to the natural broad spectrum of antibiotic resistance.

Organophosphonates utilization by soil strains of Ochrobactrum anthropi and Achromobacter sp.

Four bacterial strains from glyphosate- or alkylphosphonates-contaminated soils were tested for ability to utilize different organophosphonates. All studied strains readily utilized methylphosphonic acid and a number of other phosphonates, but differed in their ability to degrade glyphosate. Only strains Ochrobactrum anthropi GPK 3 and Achromobacter sp. Kg 16 utilized this compound after isolation from enrichment cultures with glyphosate. Achromobacter sp. MPK 7 from the same enrichment culture, similar to Achromobacter sp. MPS 12 from methylphosphonate-polluted source, required adaptation to growth on GP. Studied strains varied significantly in their growth parameters, efficiency of phosphonates degradation and characteristic products of this process, as well as in their energy metabolism. These differences give grounds to propose a possible model of interaction between these strains in microbial consortium in phosphonate-contaminated soils.

Improvement of whole-cell transamination with Saccharomyces cerevisiae using metabolic engineering and cell pre-adaptation.

BACKGROUND: Whole-cell biocatalysis based on metabolically active baker's yeast with engineered transamination activity can be used to generate molecules carrying a chiral amine moiety. A prerequisite is though to express efficient ω-transaminases and to reach sufficient intracellular precursor levels. RESULTS: Herein, the efficiency of three different ω-transaminases originating from Capsicum chinense, Chromobacterium violaceum, and Ochrobactrum anthropi was compared for whole-cell catalyzed kinetic resolution of racemic 1-phenylethylamine to (R)-1-phenylethylamine. The gene from the most promising candidate, C. violaceum ω-transaminase (CV-TA), was expressed in a strain lacking pyruvate decarboxylase activity, which thereby accumulate the co-substrate pyruvate during glucose assimilation. However, the conversion increased only slightly under the applied reaction conditions. In parallel, the effect of increasing the intracellular pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (PLP) level by omission of thiamine during cultivation was investigated. It was found that without thiamine, PLP supplementation was redundant to keep high in vivo transamination activity. Furthermore, higher reaction rates were achieved using a strain containing several copies of CV-TA gene, highlighting the necessity to also increase the intracellular transaminase level. At last, this strain was also investigated for asymmetric whole-cell bioconversion of acetophenone to (S)-1-phenylethylamine using L-alanine as amine donor. Although functionality could be demonstrated, the activity was extremely low indicating that the native co-product removal system was unable to drive the reaction towards the amine under the applied reaction conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Altogether, our results demonstrate that (R)-1-phenylethylamine with >99% ee can be obtained via kinetic resolution at concentrations above 25 mM racemic substrate with glucose as sole co-substrate when combining appropriate genetic and process engineering approaches. Furthermore, the engineered yeast strain with highest transaminase activity was also shown to be operational as whole-cell catalyst for the production of (S)-1-phenylethylamine via asymmetric transamination of acetophenone, albeit with very low conversion.

Microbial associates of the southern mole cricket (Scapteriscus borellii) are highly pathogenic.

We report the isolation and identification of seven bacterial strains and one fungal strain from dead and diseased Scapteriscus borellii mole crickets collected from a golf course in southern California. Using 16S and 18S rRNA gene sequence analysis we identified the microbes as Serratia marcescens (red), S. marcescens (white), S. marcescens (purple), Achromobacter xylosoxidans, Chryseobacterium sp., Ochrobactrum anthropi, Tsukamurella tryosinosolvens, and Beauveria bassiana. We performed a dose response curve for each of these cricket-associated microbial strains (except T. tryosinosolvens) and two other strains of S. marcescens (DB1140 and ATCC 13880). We found that all of these microbes except O. anthropi were highly pathogenic to D. melanogaster compared to the other strains of S. marcescens. Injecting the mole cricket associated strains of Serratia into flies killed all infected flies in ≤24h. For all other strains, the median time to death of injected flies varied in a dose-dependent manner. In vivo growth assessments of these microbes suggested that the host immune system was quickly overcome. We used disease tolerance curves to better understand the host-microbe interactions. Further studies are necessary to understand in mechanistic detail the virulence mechanisms of these mole cricket associated microbes and how this association may have influenced the evolution of mole cricket immunity.

Ochrobactrum anthropi used to control ammonium for nitrate removal by starch-stabilized nanoscale zero valent iron.

In this study, the hydrogenotrophic denitrifying bacterium Ochrobactrum anthropi was added in to the process of nitrate removal by starch-stabilized nanoscale zero valent iron (nZVI) to minimize undesirable ammonium. The ammonium control performance and cooperative mechanism of this combined process were investigated, and batch experiments were conducted to discuss the effects of starch-stabilized nZVI dose, biomass, and pH on nitrate reduction and ammonium control of this system. The combined system achieved satisfactory performance because the anaerobic iron corrosion process generates H2, which is used as an electron donor for the autohydrogenotrophic bacterium Ochrobactrum anthropi to achieve the autohydrogenotrophic denitrification process converting nitrate to N2. When starch-stabilized nZVI dose was increased from 0.5 to 2.0 g/L, nitrate reduction rate gradually increased, and ammonium yield also increased from 9.40 to 60.51 mg/L. Nitrate removal rate gradually decreased and ammonium yield decreased from 14.93 to 2.61 mg/L with initial OD600 increasing from 0.015 to 0.080. The abiotic Fe0 reduction process played a key role in nitrate removal in an acidic environment and generated large amounts of ammonium. Meanwhile, the nitrate removal rate decreased and ammonium yield also reduced in an alkaline environment.

Ochrobactrum anthropi-Caused Osteomyelitis in the Foot Mimicking a Bone Tumor: Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Osteomyelitis due to Ochrobactrum anthropi, a new genus Ochrobacterum widely distributed in the environment and occasionally associated with human infection, has been described in only a few case reports. We present a report of an unusual case of osteomyelitis caused by O. anthropi that was identified 9 years after a nail puncture to the lateral cuneiform bone. The patient was an 18-year-old male with a painful foot lesion that had originally been misdiagnosed as an osteolytic tumor. He underwent surgery and 2 firm pieces of rubber measuring 7 and 10 mm were removed from the lower portion of the lateral cuneiform bone, which appeared to be affected by an infection. After surgical debridement, O. anthropi was isolated from the bone cultures. The patient was successfully treated with a 6-week course of oral ciprofloxacin and clindamycin. At 1 year after the corrected diagnosis and appropriate treatment, he was symptom free and had resumed regular activities and an athletic lifestyle.

Temperature-dependent regulation of the Ochrobactrum anthropi proteome.

Ochrobactrum anthropi is a Gram-negative rod belonging to the Brucellaceae family, able to colonize a variety of environments, and actually reported as a human opportunistic pathogen. Despite its low virulence, the bacterium causes a growing number of hospital-acquired infections mainly, but not exclusively, in immunocompromised patients. The aim of this study was to obtain an overview of the global proteome changes occurring in O. anthropi in response to different growth temperatures, in order to achieve a major understanding of the mechanisms by which the bacterium adapts to different habitats and to identify some potential virulence factors. Combined quantitative mass spectrometry-based proteomics and bioinformatics approaches were carried out on two O. anthropi strains grown at temperatures miming soil/plants habitat (25°C) and human host environment (37°C), respectively. Proteomic analysis led to the identification of over 150 differentially expressed proteins in both strains, out of over 1200 total protein identifications. Among them, proteins responsible for heat shock response (DnaK, GrpE), motility (FliC, FlgG, FlgE), and putative virulence factors (TolB) were identified. The study represents the first quantitative proteomic analysis of O. anthropi performed by high-resolution quantitative mass spectrometry.

Outbreak of Achromobacter xylosoxidans and Ochrobactrum anthropi Infections after Prostate Biopsies, France, 2014.

We report an outbreak of healthcare-associated prostatitis involving rare environmental pathogens in immunocompetent patients undergoing transrectal prostate biopsies at Hôpital Édouard Herriot (Lyon, France) during August 13-October 10, 2014. Despite a fluoroquinolone-based prophylaxis, 5 patients were infected with Achromobacter xylosoxidans and 3 with Ochrobactrum anthropi, which has not been reported as pathogenic in nonimmunocompromised persons. All patients recovered fully. Analysis of the outbreak included case investigation, case-control study, biopsy procedure review, microbiologic testing of environmental and clinical samples, and retrospective review of hospital records for 4 years before the outbreak. The cases resulted from asepsis errors during preparation of materials for the biopsies. A low-level outbreak involving environmental bacteria was likely present for years, masked by antimicrobial drug prophylaxis and a low number of cases. Healthcare personnel should promptly report unusual pathogens in immunocompetent patients to infection control units, and guidelines should explicitly mention asepsis during materials preparation.

Utility of Ochrobactrum anthropi YC152 in a Microbial Fuel Cell as an Early Warning Device for Hexavalent Chromium Determination.

Fast hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) determination is important for environmental risk and health-related considerations. We used a microbial fuel cell-based biosensor inoculated with a facultatively anaerobic, Cr(VI)-reducing, and exoelectrogenic Ochrobactrum anthropi YC152 to determine the Cr(VI) concentration in water. The results indicated that O. anthropi YC152 exhibited high adaptability to pH, temperature, salinity, and water quality under anaerobic conditions. The stable performance of the microbial fuel cell (MFC)-based biosensor indicated its potential as a reliable biosensor system. The MFC voltage decreased as the Cr(VI) concentration in the MFC increased. Two satisfactory linear relationships were observed between the Cr(VI) concentration and voltage output for various Cr(VI) concentration ranges (0.0125-0.3 mg/L and 0.3-5 mg/L). The MFC biosensor is a simple device that can accurately measure Cr(VI) concentrations in drinking water, groundwater, and electroplating wastewater in 45 min with low deviations (<10%). The use of the biosensor can help in preventing the violation of effluent regulations and the maximum allowable concentration of Cr(VI) in water. Thus, the developed MFC biosensor has potential as an early warning detection device for Cr(VI) determination even if O. anthropi YC152 is a possible opportunistic pathogen.

Active-Site Engineering of ω-Transaminase for Production of Unnatural Amino Acids Carrying a Side Chain Bulkier than an Ethyl Substituent.

ω-Transaminase (ω-TA) is a promising enzyme for use in the production of unnatural amino acids from keto acids using cheap amino donors such as isopropylamine. The small substrate-binding pocket of most ω-TAs permits entry of substituents no larger than an ethyl group, which presents a significant challenge to the preparation of structurally diverse unnatural amino acids. Here we report on the engineering of an (S)-selective ω-TA from Ochrobactrum anthropi (OATA) to reduce the steric constraint and thereby allow the small pocket to readily accept bulky substituents. On the basis of a docking model in which L-alanine was used as a ligand, nine active-site residues were selected for alanine scanning mutagenesis. Among the resulting variants, an L57A variant showed dramatic activity improvements in activity for α-keto acids and α-amino acids carrying substituents whose bulk is up to that of an n-butyl substituent (e.g., 48- and 56-fold increases in activity for 2-oxopentanoic acid and L-norvaline, respectively). An L57G mutation also relieved the steric constraint but did so much less than the L57A mutation did. In contrast, an L57V substitution failed to induce the improvements in activity for bulky substrates. Molecular modeling suggested that the alanine substitution of L57, located in a large pocket, induces an altered binding orientation of an α-carboxyl group and thereby provides more room to the small pocket. The synthetic utility of the L57A variant was demonstrated by carrying out the production of optically pure L- and D-norvaline (i.e., enantiomeric excess [ee]>99%) by asymmetric amination of 2-oxopantanoic acid and kinetic resolution of racemic norvaline, respectively.

Development of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification method for the rapid detection of the dioxin-degrading bacterium Ochrobactrum anthropi in soil.

In this study, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and real-time LAMP assays were developed to detect the dioxin-degrading bacterium Ochrobactrum anthropi strain BD-1 in soil. Four primers were designed to use ITS gene amplification for the strain O. anthropi BD-1. The real-time LAMP assay was found to accomplish the reaction by 1 pg of genomic DNA load when used for nucleic acid amplification. This assay was then applied to detect O. anthropi BD-1 in eight soil samples collected from a dioxin-contaminated site. The results demonstrated that these newly developed LAMP and real-time LAMP assays will not only be useful and efficient tools for detecting the target gene, but also be used as molecular tools for monitoring the growth of dioxin-degrading O. anthropi in the soil. This is the first report to demonstrate the use of LAMP assays to monitor the presence of O. anthropi in dioxin-contaminated soil. The application of this method should improve the biomonitoring of dioxin contamination.