title: Aerobic nonylphenol degradation and nitro-nonylphenol formation by microbial cultures from sediments.
abstract: Nonylphenol (NP) is an estrogenic pollutant which is widely present in the aquatic environment. Biodegradation of NP can reduce the toxicological risk. In this study, aerobic biodegradation of NP in river sediment was investigated. The sediment used for the microcosm experiments was aged polluted with NP. The biodegradation of NP in the sediment occurred within 8 days with a lag phase of 2 days at 30 degrees C. During the biodegradation, nitro-nonylphenol metabolites were formed, which were further degraded to unknown compounds. The attached nitro-group originated from the ammonium in the medium. Five subsequent transfers were performed from original sediment and yielded a final stable population. In this NP-degrading culture, the microorganisms possibly involved in the biotransformation of NP to nitro-nonylphenol were related to ammonium-oxidizing bacteria. Besides the degradation of NP via nitro-nonylphenol, bacteria related to phenol-degrading species, which degrade phenol via ring cleavage, are abundantly present.
authors.affiliation: Deltares, Princetonlaan 6, 3584 CB, Utrecht, The Netherlands. jasperien.deweert@deltares.nl
authors.forename: Jasperien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: De Weert
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Viñas
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Grotenhuis
authors.forename: Huub
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rijnaarts
authors.forename: Alette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Langenhoff
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D001711:Biotransformation; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D056186:Metagenomics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009691:Nucleic Acid Denaturation; D010636:Phenols / Q000378:metabolism*; D045483:Rivers; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D010636:Phenols; C025256:nonylphenol