title: Anaerobic degradation of p-Xylene by a sulfate-reducing enrichment culture.
abstract: A strictly anaerobic enrichment culture was obtained with p-xylene as organic substrate and sulfate as electron acceptor from an aquifer at a former gasworks plant contaminated with aromatic hydrocarbons. p-Xylene was completely oxidized to CO(2). The enrichment culture depended on Fe(II) in the medium as a scavenger of the produced sulfide. 4-Methylbenzylsuccinic acid and 4-methylphenylitaconic acid were identified in supernatants of cultures indicating that degradation of p-xylene was initiated by fumarate addition to one of the methyl groups. Therefore, p-xylene degradation probably proceeds analogously to toluene degradation by Thauera aromatica or anaerobic degradation pathways for o- and m-xylene.
authors.affiliation: Zentrum für Angewandte Geowissenschaften, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Sigwartstrasse 10, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Morasch
authors.forename: Rainer U
authors.initials: RU
authors.lastname: Meckenstock
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D013440:Sulfides / Q000378:metabolism*; D014050:Toluene / Q000378:metabolism; D014992:Xylenes / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D013440:Sulfides; D014992:Xylenes; D014050:Toluene; C031286:4-xylene