The ability of halophiles to survive in the extreme salt concentrations has gained them the importance of being used in the treatment of industrial waste waters. A moderately halophilic bacterial strain with the ability to degrade the complex azo dye Direct Blue-1 (DB-1) was isolated from sea water and identified as Marinobacter sp. strain HBRA. Complete decolorization of DB-1 (100 mg L-1) was achieved in 6 h at 37 degrees C, pH 8 and with 70 g L-1 NaCl. Decolorization was analyzed by UV-vis spectrophotometer. The FT-IR spectrum revealed that Marinobacter sp. strain HBRA specifically targeted azo bond (N=N) at 1631 cm(-1) to break down Direct Blue-1. Formation of metabolites at different retention times in HPLC indicated degradation. Biotransformation pathway for DB-1 was proposed based on LC-MS. Phytotoxicity study revealed the less toxic nature of the metabolites compared to the dye. Genotoxicity with Allium cepa confirmed the cytotoxic nature of DB-1 by inducing several chromosomal abnormalities compared to the negligible effects of degraded metabolites. The current study is the first report on the detoxification of DB-1 by Marinobacter sp. strain HBRA. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.