title: Bacterial metabolism of hydroxylated biphenyls.
abstract: Isolates able to grow on 3- or 4-hydroxybiphenyl (HB) as the sole carbon source were obtained by enrichment culture. The 3-HB degrader Pseudomonas sp. strain FH12 used an NADPH-dependent monooxygenase restricted to 3- and 3,3'-HBs to introduce an ortho-hydroxyl. The 4-HB degrader Pseudomonas sp. strain FH23 used either a mono- or dioxygenase to generate a 2,3-diphenolic substitution pattern which allowed meta-fission of the aromatic ring. By using 3-chlorocatechol to inhibit catechol dioxygenase activity, it was found that 2- and 3-HBs were converted by FH23 to 2,3-HB, whereas biphenyl and 4-HB were attacked by dioxygenation. 4-HB was metabolized to 2,3,4'-trihydroxybiphenyl. Neither organism attacked chlorinated HBs. The degradation of 3- and 4-HBs by these strains is therefore analogous to the metabolism of biphenyl, 2-HB, and naphthalene in the requirement for 2,3-catechol formation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside 92521.
authors.forename: F K
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Higson
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Focht
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds / Q000378:metabolism*; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D011549:Pseudomonas / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001713:Biphenyl Compounds; C019046:4-phenylphenol; C059903:3-hydroxybiphenyl