Aerobic degradation and dechlorination of 2–chlorophenol, 3-chlorophenol and 4-chlorophenol by a Pseudomonas pickettii strain

Abstract

A Gram-negative aerobic bacterium capable of using 2-chlorophenol (2-CP), 3-chlorophenol (3-CP) and 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) as sole carbon sources was isolated and characterized. The bacterium, designated LD1, was identified to be a Pseudomonas pickettii strain. LD1 was able to totally degrade and dechlorinate 2-CP (initial concentration: 1.51 mmol l-1), 3-CP (initial concentration: 0.57 mmol l-1) and 4-CP (initial concentration: 0.75 mmol l-1) within 30, 30 and 40 h of incubation, respectively, under growing-cell batch conditions. LD1 was also found to be able to metabolize chlorocatechols in growing- and resting-cell conditions. This suggests that the bacterium degrades monochlorophenols through a chlorocatechol pathway. In addition, LD1 was found to be capable of readily metabolizing other organic compounds such as phenol, benzoic acid, hydroxybenzoic acids and hydroquinone. Because of the broad spectrum of monochlorophenols and organic compounds that LD1 can degrade, this bacterium appears to have the potential for being successfully used in the biotreatment of wastewaters and in soil decontamination.

Pseudomonas pickettii: A Common Soil and Groundwater Aerobic Bacteria with Pathogenic and Biodegradation Properties

“…Chlorophenol (CP) compounds are used widely as pesticides. They also can be formed in chlorinated water and by the breakdown of chlorinated aromatic compounds (Fava et al, 1995). Chlorinated compounds have a high degree of environmental persistence as well as water solubility.…”

Degradation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol by a specialized organism and by indigenous soil microflora: bioaugmentation and self-remediability for soil restoration

“…© 1998 The Society for Applied Microbiology chlorinated phenols (Steiert and Crawford 1986 ;Li et al 1991 ;Kiyohara et al 1992 ;Wieser et al 1994 ;Fava et al 1995 ;Tomasi et al 1995 ;Bock et al 1996 ;Koh et al 1997). Under anaerobic conditions, CPs, independently from the substitution grade, are often reductively dechlorinated up to phenol in fresh water sediments and by microbial consortia under sulphate-reducing and methanogenic conditions (Zhang and Wiegel 1990 ;Häggblom and Young 1990 ;Turner Togna et al 1995) ; few pure cultures have been shown to degrade CPs anaerobically (Mohn and Kennedy 1992 ;Utkin et al 1995 ;Christiansen and Ahring 1996).…”

Detection of <i>meta</i> - and <i>ortho</i> -cleavage dioxygenases in bacterial phenol-degraders

“…These pollutants are usually treated in activated sludge processes because many aerobic bacteria and fungi are able to use phenol as a source of carbon and energy (Rebhun and Galil 1988;Watanabe et al, 1996). Biodegradation of phenol, therefore, has long been the subject of numerous investigations (Ruiz-Rrdaz et al, 2001;Chang et al, 1998;Fava et al, 1995;Abd-El-Haleem et al, 2003;Dean-Ross, 1989;Solomon et al, 1994;Ahmed et al, 1995;Alleman et al, 1995;Collins and daugulis, 1997;Fulthorpe and Allen, 1995;Lin et al, 1990;Morris and Lester, 1994;Ryu et al, 2000;Wang et al, 1996). A typical pathway for metabolizing an aromatic compound like phenol is to dihydroxylate the benzene ring to form a catechol derivative and then to open the ring through ortho or meta oxidation.…”