Degradation of phenol via phenylphosphate and carboxylation to 4-hydroxybenzoate by a newly isolated strain of the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfobacterium anilini.
A sulfate-reducing phenol-degrading bacterium, strain AK1, was isolated from a 2-bromophenol-utilizing sulfidogenic estuarine sediment enrichment culture. On the basis of phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene and DNA homology, strain AK1 is most closely related to Desulfobacterium anilini strain Ani1 (= DSM 4660(T)). In addition to phenol, this organism degrades a variety of other aromatic compounds, including benzoate, 2-hydroxybenzoate, 4-hydroxybenzoate, 4-hydroxyphenylacetate, 2-aminobenzoate, 2-fluorophenol, and 2-fluorobenzoate, but it does not degrade aniline, 3-hydroxybenzoate, 4-cyanophenol, 2,4-dihydroxybenzoate, monohalogenated phenols, or monohalogenated benzoates. Growth with sulfate as an electron acceptor occurred with acetate and pyruvate but not with citrate, propionate, butyrate, lactate, glucose, or succinate. Strain AK1 is able to use sulfate, sulfite, and thiosulfate as electron acceptors. A putative phenylphosphate synthase gene responsible for anaerobic phenol degradation was identified in strain AK1. In phenol-grown cultures inducible expression of the ppsA gene was verified by reverse transcriptase PCR, and 4-hydroxybenzoate was detected as an intermediate. These results suggest that the pathway for anaerobic degradation of phenol in D. anilini strain AK1 proceeds via phosphorylation of phenol to phenylphosphate, followed by carboxylation to 4-hydroxybenzoate. The details concerning such reaction pathways in sulfidogenic bacteria have not been characterized previously.
Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901, USA.
Young-Beom
YB
Ahn
Jong-Chan
JC
Chae
Gerben J
GJ
Zylstra
Max M
MM
Häggblom
D000085:Acetates / Q000378:metabolism; D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D020564:Deltaproteobacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010755:Organophosphates / Q000378:metabolism*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010226:Parabens / Q000378:metabolism*; D019800:Phenol / Q000378:metabolism*; D010802:Phylogeny; D019289:Pyruvic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013431:Sulfates / Q000378:metabolism
D000085:Acetates; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D010755:Organophosphates; D010226:Parabens; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D013431:Sulfates; D019800:Phenol; C074782:phenylphosphate; D019289:Pyruvic Acid; C038193:4-hydroxybenzoic acid