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a b s t r a c tA microbial process for the degradation of three types of structurally distinct organonitriles (i.e., saturated and unsaturated aliphatic nitrile and aromatic nitrile) was studied. showed a two-step pathway, with the generation of acetamide followed by acetic acid and ammonia for acetonitrile or acrylamide followed by acrylic acid and ammonia for acrylonitrile. However, the biodegradation of benzonitrile appeared to have only one step, with the direct production of benzoic acid and ammonia, but without benzamide being detected in the process. The results suggest that, depending on the substrates, the adapted mixed culture can develop very different degradation pathways, such as nitrile hydratase plus amidase for acetonitrile or acrylonitrile and nitrilase for benzonitrile. Therefore, the adapted mixed culture has a great potential and flexibility for actual applications in biodegradation of various organonitrile compounds.