Biodegradation of phenol using recombinant plasmid-carrying Rhodococcus erythropolis strains

► We analyzed phenol degradation by the plasmid-carrying strains of R. erythropolis. ► Phenol hydroxylase activity in the recombinant strains increased as much as 4-fold. ► Phenol degradation with the recombinant strains increased as much as by 50%. ► Plasmids carrying the phe-cat genes were reisolated from R. erythropolis cells.