Abstract: Pyridine is a class of N-heterocyclic organic pollutants which has high biological toxicity and long existed in the environment. 2-Hydroxypyridine is an important pyridine derivative and intermediate metabolite in the biodegradation of N-heterocyclic organic compounds such as pyridine and nicotine. It is more water soluble, more mobile, and more leachable into groundwater, soil, which causes widespread contamination in environment and threatens ecological environment and human health. Microbial degradation with the characteristics of high efficiency, low cost, no secondary pollution is an effective measure to remove the environment pollution of 2-hydroxypyridine, which has a good application prospect. After years of research, a number of strains with capacity to degrade 2-hydroxypyridine have been isolated and some degradation mechanisms have been clarified. In this paper, we summarized the latest research progress on the biodegradation of 2-hydroxypyridine from the aspects of microorganism resource, degradation pathway, key enzymes and genes, and then discussed about the current development trend and propose suggestions for its future research direction, to provide references for bioremediation of 2-hydroxypyridine-contaminated environments.

Key words: 2-hydroxypyridine, biodegradation, degradation mechanism, research progress