The terminal oxidases of the respiratory chain of seven strains of gram-negative bacteria were shown to be involved in the reduction of tellurite. The rate of tellurite reduction correlated with the intensity of respiration. The inhibitors of terminal oxidases, carbon monoxide and cyanide, inhibited the reduction of tellurite. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO ML4262 and P. aeruginosa PAO ML4262 (pBS 10), the respiratory chain was found to contain three types of cytochrome c, one of which (the carbon monoxide-binding cytochrome c) was involved in the reduction of tellurite. Agrobacterium tumefaciens VKM B-1219, P. aeruginosa IBPM B-13, and Escherichia coli G0-102bd++ cells contained oxidases aa3, bb3, and bd, respectively. The respiratory chain of other strains contained two oxidases: E. coli DH5alpha of bb3- and bd-type, and Erwinia carotovora VKM B-567 of bo3- and bd-type. All the strains under study reduced tellurite with the formation of tellurium crystallites. Depending on the position of the active center of terminal oxidases in the plasma membrane, the crystallites appeared either in the periplasmic space [P. aeruginosa PAO ML4262 and P. aeruginosa PAO ML4262 (pBS10)], or on the outer surface of the membrane (A. tumefaciens VKM B-1219 and P. aeruginosa IBPM B-13), its inner surface (E. coli G0-102bd++), or on both surfaces (E. coli DHaalpha and E. carotovora VKM B-567).

The strain Streptomyces rochei 303 (VKM Ac-1284D) is capable of utilizing 2-chloro-, 2,4-, 2,6-dichloro- and 2,4,6-trichlorophenols as the sole source of carbon. Its resting cells completely dechlorinated and degraded 2-, 3-chloro-; 2,4-, 2,6-, 2,3-, 2,5-, 3,4-, 3,5-dichloro-; 2,4-, 2,6-dibromo-; 2,4,6-, 2,4,5-, 2,3,4-, 2,3,5-, 2,3,6-trichlorophenols; 2,3,5,6-tetrachloro- and pentachlorophenol. During chlorophenol degradation, a stoichiometric amount of chloride ions was released and chlorohydroquinols were formed as intermediates. In cell-free extracts of S. rochei, the activity of hydroxyquinol 1,2-dioxygenase was found. The enzyme was induced with chlorophenols. Of all so far described strains degrading polychlorophenols, S. rochei 303 utilized a wider range of chlorinated phenols as the sole sourse of carbon and energy.

A versatile bacterial strain able to convert polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was isolated, and a conversion by the isolate of both individual substances and PAH mixtures was investigated. The strain belonged to the Sphingomonas genus as determined on the basis of 16S rRNA analysis and was designated as VKM B-2434. The strain used naphthalene, acenaphthene, phenanthrene, anthracene and fluoranthene as a sole source of carbon and energy, and cometabolically oxidized fluorene, pyrene, benz[a]anthracene, chrysene and benzo[a]pyrene. Acenaphthene and fluoranthene were degraded by the strain via naphthalene-1,8-dicarboxylic acid and 3-hydroxyphthalic acid. Conversion of most other PAHs was confined to the cleavage of only one aromatic ring. The major oxidation products of naphthalene, phenanthrene, anthracene, chrysene, and benzo[a]pyrene were identified as salicylic acid, 1-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid, 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid, o-hydroxyphenanthroic acid and o-hydroxypyrenoic acid, respectively. Fluorene and pyrene were oxidized mainly to hydroxyfluorenone and dihydroxydihydropyrene, respectively. Oxidation of phenanthrene and anthracene to the corresponding hydroxynaphthoic acids occurred quantitatively. The strain converted phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene and carbazole of coal-tar-pitch extract.

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A Nocardioides simplex strain 3E was isolated which totally dechlorinated 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid and was capable of its utilization as the sole source of carbon. The mechanism of 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid degradation by this strain was investigated. Chloroaromatic metabolites that occur in the lag, exponential and stationary growth phases of the strain Nocardioides simplex 3E were isolated and identified bases on a combination of TLC, GC-MS and HPLC data. Decomposition of 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid at the initial stage was shown to proceed by two pathways: via the splitting of the two-carbon fragment to yield 2,4,5-trichlorophenol and the reductive dechlorination to produce 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. Hydrolytic dechlorination of 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid was found to yield dichlorohydroxyphenoxyacetic acid, thus pointing to the possible existence of a third branch at the initial stage of degradation of the xenobiotic. 2,4,5-Trichlorophenol and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid produced during the metabolism of 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid and in experiments with resting cells are utilized by the strain Nocardioides simplex 3E as growth substrates.

BACKGROUND: Wastes generated in production of caprolactam (2‐oxohexamethylenimine, ε‐caprolactam) and caprolactam‐based polymers contain the unreacted monomer and its low‐molecular linear and cyclic oligomers. Application of microorganisms for biological treatment of caprolactam‐ and oligomer‐containing wastes can become an alternative to existing waste utilization methods. This work investigated the transformation of caprolactam low‐molecular linear oligomers by caprolactam‐degrading bacteria bearing degradative plasmids (CAP plasmids).RESULTS Based on mass spectrometry data, a scheme for the biotransformation of caprolactam linear oligomers is proposed. Oxidative transamination to corresponding dicarboxylic acids can be one of the transformation mechanisms. Oxidative transamination occurs due to a broad substrate specificity of the caprolactam catabolism key enzymes 2‐oxoglutarate‐6‐aminohexanoate transaminase (EC.2.6.1‐) and 6‐oxohexanoate dehydrogenase (EC.1.2.1.63) whose synthesis is determined by CAP plasmids. Incubation of cells 2.0–3.0 × 109 CFU mL−1 of strains with various plasmid‐bacterial host combinations in 2 mmol L−1 solution of a dimer for 96 h leads to its almost complete transformation to a corresponding dicarboxylic acid. The dynamics of the process largely depends on the host strain.CONCLUSION: Deamination of oligomers in their transformation by the enzyme systems of caprolactam‐degrading bacteria can substitute the chemical methods of pretreating caprolactam‐ and oligomer‐containing wastes for their subsequent biological purification. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry

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Halophenols and their derivatives are priority pollutants of mainly anthropogenic origin. Over several decades, these compounds have been widely used as building blocks in chemical and pharmaceutical syntheses and as herbicides and pesticides, and they have caused serious local contamination of the environment. Soil microorganisms have developed the capacity of utilizing halophenols for their growth by a diverse set of biodegradation pathways (8). Aerobic soil microorganisms generally degrade mono-and dihalophenols through the initial action of (chloro)phenol ortho-hydroxylases, leading to the formation of halocatechols (1,7,9,10,12). In the framework of a project devoted to the biodegradation of halophenols by gram-positive bacteria, we investigated the formation of hydroxylated intermediates formed upon the conversion of halophenols by various Rhodococcus species and previously demonstrated the formation of (halo)catechols as initial intermediates in the biodegradation pathways (3). However, identification of the subsequent biodegradation pathways of the chlorocatechols appeared hampered by the fact that unequivocal identification of the site of introduction of a third hydroxyl group is difficult because 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) splitting patterns combined with 1 H chemical shift data of the protons present in these metabolites can be compatible with more than one substitution pattern (13). Therefore, in this paper, we have studied the possible formation of trihydroxyfluorobenzene metabolites from fluorophenols by whole cells of Rhodococcus opacus 1cp in detail. The fluorine substituent provides the possibility to detect and quantify the possible hydroxyfluorobenzene intermediates by 19 F NMR, allowing the identification of the exact substitution pattern. Using this technique we unambiguously demonstrate the formation of fluoropyrogallols (1,2,3-trihydroxyfluorobenzenes) as new intermediates in the biotransformation of monofluorophenols by R. opacus 1cp. MATERIALS AND METHODS Chemicals.Phenol was purchased from Merck (Darmstadt, Germany). 2-Fluorophenol, 3-fluorophenol, and 4-fluorophenol were purchased from Janssen Chimica (Beerse, Belgium). Fluorocatechols were prepared from the corresponding fluorophenols using purified phenol hydroxylase from Trichosporon cutaneum (14). Fluoromuconates were prepared and identified as described previously (2) by incubating the fluorocatechols with catechol 1,2-dioxygenase from Pseudomonas arvilla C-1.Growth of R. opacus 1cp. The strain R. opacus 1cp was isolated and maintained as described previously (6). The strain can grow on phenol as the sole source of carbon. For cultivation, a mineral synthetic medium containing, per liter, 1 g of NH 4 NO 3 , 1 g of K 2 HPO 4 , 1 g of KH 2 PO 4 , 0.2 g of MgSO 4 ⅐ 7H 2 O, 0.02 g of CaCl 2 , and 2 drops of a saturated solution of FeCl 3 (pH 7.2) was used. Phenol was used as the source of carbon and was initially added at a 200-mg/liter final concentration. R. opacus 1cp did not grow on either of the three monofluorophenols ...