Degradation of phenol and phenolic compounds by Pseudomonas putida EKII.
The phenol-degrading strain Pseudomonas putida EKII was isolated from a soil enrichment culture and utilized phenol up to 10.6 mM (1.0 g.l-1) as the sole source of carbon and energy. Furthermore, cresols, chlorophenols, 3,4-dimethylphenol, and 4-chloro-m-cresol were metabolized as sole substrates by phenol-grown resting cells of strain EKII. Under conditions of cell growth, degradation of these xenobiotics was achieved only in co-metabolism with phenol. Phenol hydroxylase activity was detectable in whole cells but not in cell-free extracts. The specificity of the hydroxylating enzyme was found during transformation of cresols and chlorophenols: ortho- and meta-substituted phenols were degraded via 3-substituted catechols, while degradation of para-substituted phenols proceeded via 4-substituted catechols. In cell-free extracts of phenol-grown cells a high level of catechol 2,3-dioxygenase as well as smaller amounts of 2-hydroxymuconic semialdehyde hydrolyase and catechol 1,2-dioxygenase were detected. The ring-cleaving enzymes were characterized after partial purification by DEAE-cellulose chromatography.
Hinteregger
C
C
Abteilung für Umweltmikrobiologie, Technische Universität Wien, Vienna, Austria.
Leitner
R
R
Loidl
M
M
Ferschl
A
A
Streichsbier
F
F
D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D050557:Catechol 2,3-Dioxygenase; D002396:Catechols / Q000378:metabolism; D002845:Chromatography; D003408:Cresols / Q000378:metabolism; D049308:Dioxygenases; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D010105:Oxygenases / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D010636:Phenols / Q000378:metabolism*; D016958:Pseudomonas putida / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*; D013379:Substrate Specificity
D002396:Catechols; D003408:Cresols; D010636:Phenols; D010105:Oxygenases; D049308:Dioxygenases; D050557:Catechol 2,3-Dioxygenase