title: Emerging chemicals and the evolution of biodegradation capacities and pathways in bacteria.
abstract: The number of new chemicals produced is increasing daily by the thousands, and it is inevitable that many of these chemicals will reach the environment. Current research provides an understanding of how the evolution of promiscuous enzymes and the recruitment of enzymes available from the metagenome allows for the assembly of these pathways. Nevertheless, physicochemical constraints including bioavailability, bioaccessibility, and the structural variations of similar chemicals limit the evolution of biodegradation pathways. Similarly, physiological constraints related to kinetics and substrate utilization at low concentrations likewise limit chemical-enzyme interactions and consequently evolution. Considering these new data, the biodegradation decalogue still proves valid while at the same time the underlying mechanisms are better understood.
authors.affiliation: University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, School for Life Sciences, Institute for Ecopreneurship, Gruendenstrasse 40, Muttenz 4132, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Boris A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Kolvenbach
authors.affiliation: Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Department of Environmental Microbiology, Ueberlandstrasse 133, P.O. Box 611, Duebendorf 8600, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Damian E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Helbling
authors.affiliation: Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Department of Environmental Microbiology, Ueberlandstrasse 133, P.O. Box 611, Duebendorf 8600, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Hans-Peter E
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Kohler
authors.affiliation: University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, School for Life Sciences, Institute for Ecopreneurship, Gruendenstrasse 40, Muttenz 4132, Switzerland; State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University Xianlin Campus, Xianlin Avenue 163, Nanjing 210023, China. Electronic address: philippe.corvini@fhnw.ch.
authors.forename: Philippe F-X
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Corvini
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D005075:Biological Evolution; D020440:Gene Duplication / Q000235:genetics; D054892:Metagenome