ABSTRACT
The genus name “Rhodococcus” was Šrst used by Zopf in 1891 to describe two species of red-pigmented bacteria.1-3 The taxon Rhodococcus is of interest for a variety of reasons, including its several metabolic abilities, as they can degrade a wide range of environmental pollutants and transform or synthesize a number of compounds with possible useful applications. Rhodococci are virtually ubiquitous, which is evident by their presence in a large variety of sources including soils, rocks, boreholes, groundwater, marine sediments, animal dung, the guts of insects, and in healthy and diseased animals and plants.4-6 The commercial potential of Rhodococcus species is increasingly being recognized. Their outstanding ability to synthesize several products such as surfactants, ³occulants, amides, and polymers, as well as their capacity to degrade or transform a wide range of chemicals make rhodococci actually or potentially useful in environmental and industrial biotechnology. This increasing interest is re³ected in patenting. Finnerty lists 10 patents relating to rhodococci up to 1990,1 Warhurst and Fewson report that a further 20 patent families were submitted in the following two years, while from 1993 to November 1996, a further 80 patents were submitted to the World Patent Index.6
