Biodegradation and Transformation of Recalcitrant Compounds

Degradation of phenol and chlorophenols by mixed and pure cultures

“…We report on our work on the enrichment of mixed cultures capable of degrading phenols and chlorophenols, usually the most recalcitrant (Neilson et al, 1985;Sittig, 1981) and introduce steps for the isolation of pure cultures and their preliminary identification. Available on website http://www.wrc.org.za strains (Haggblom and Valo, 1995) , as a pH indicator.…”

Biodegradation of Water-Soluble Compounds

“…The positioning of the labelled atom(s) in the molecule is important and can be used selectively to distinguish which moiety of the molecule has been attacked. For example, in aromatic compounds with side chains 14 C0 2 evolved from ring-labelled preparations would indicate ring opening, while 14 C02 from labelled side chains shows only aliphatic oxidation. In both these cases primary biodegradability is indicated; uniform labelling would have to be used to determine ultimate biodegradability.…”

“…Particularly informative is the Symposium on "Microbial Degradation of Xenobiotics and Recalcitrant Compounds" [13] (especially papers by Cain, Dagley, Fewson, Harder, Hutzinger, Knackmuss, and Williams) and a recent essay by Neilson [14].…”

“…(Two practical details are important: the filtrate should be acidified and aerated to collect any inorganic carbon at the end of incubation and any adsorption of 14 C on the membrane, etc. must be accounted for.)…”

Genetic manipulations of microorganisms for the degradation of hexachlorocyclohexane

“…This subject constitutes one of today's most serious challenges to public health and environmental pollution. Many environmentally important xenobiotics and other chemicals introduced for industrial and agricultural use are halogenated: halogenation is often implicated as the reason for persistence and toxicity of such compounds [1]. These compounds enter the soil, water and foods by several routes e.g., landfill dumping of industrial wastes, by run-off from treated plant surfaces, spillage during application, use of contaminated manure, drift from aerial and ground application, erosion of contaminated soil by wind and water into the aquatic system, accidents in transport of insecticides, etc.…”