The bacterially mediated degradation of the new anti-fungal biocide, bethoxazin, was studied in vitro, by means of 16S rRNA PCR-amplification and cloning techniques. Woodblocks impregnated with a subtoxic concentration of bethoxazin were incubated in compost, and the micro-organisms associated with the wood after 6 and 12 weeks was studied. It was found that after 6 weeks the wood contained a large number of proteobacteria, including Pseudomonas fluorescens, Bordetella petrii, Asticcacaulis biprosthecium and Alcaligenes spp. These organisms appear to be the dominant organisms involved in bethoxazin detoxification. After 12 weeks, the population of bacteria was found to have altered considerably, with the dominant bacteria being identified as Afipia, Rhizobium and Verrucomicrobium. This population is thought to have developed after the biocide had been detoxified and represents a succession in the wood, outcompeting the previous detoxifying population.

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