title: Biodegradation studies of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in aqueous media.
abstract: Sixteen bacterial strains isolated from an activated sludge and Mycobacterium ssp. PYR-1 were tested for their ability to degrade polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The bacterial strains Pasteurella ssp. (B-2) and Mycobacterium ssp. PYR-1 (AM) showed a high biodegradation potential of three- and four-ring PAHs. Bacterial strain AM was able to degrade up to 80% of three and four-ring PAHs (phenanthrene, fluoranthene and pyrene) within the first month of incubation, while the bacterial strain B-2 achieved the same biodegradation in 2 months. The metabolic pathway of PAH degradation was studied using fluoranthene and the bacterial strain AM. Ninety per cent of fluoranthene was biodegraded within the first 9 d of incubation when applied as a single substrate. Retention factor values from thin-layer chromatography studies, gas chromatography with mass selective detection and tandem mass spectrometry identified 9-fluorenone-1-carboxylic acid as one of the stable metabolic products and from this a fluoranthene biodegradation pathway is proposed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia. ester.sepic@ijs.si
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sepic
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bricelj
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Leskovsek
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D005449:Fluorenes / Q000378:metabolism; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic / Q000378:metabolism*; D007700:Kinetics; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000378:metabolism*; D010325:Pasteurella / Q000378:metabolism*; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D005449:Fluorenes; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic; D012722:Sewage; C007738:fluoranthene