Molecular cloning and sequence of the thdF gene involved in the thiophene and furan oxidation by Escherichia coli

Conference · Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1990

OSTI ID:6133543

Alam, K Y; Clark, D P

Since sulfur dioxide emission from burning high sulfur coals is a major contributor to acid rain, it is important to develop bacteria which are capable of efficiently removing the sulfur from coal before combustion. Inorganic sulfur can be removed from coal by certain strains of Thiobacillus or Sulfolobus; however the organic sulfur remains intransigent. Since high sulfur Illinois coals typically contain 60% to 70% of their sulfur in the form of the heterocyclic thiophene ring we have started to investigate the biodegradation of derivatives of thiophene and the corresponding oxygen heterocycle, furan. Our previous work resulted in the isolation of a triple mutant, NAR30, capable of oxidizing a range of furan and thiophene derivatives. However, NAR30 does not completely degrade thiophenes or furans and its oxidation of these compounds is slow and inefficient. We decided to clone the thd genes both in order to increase the efficiency of degradation and to investigate the nature of the reactions involved. 37 refs., 4 figs., 3 tabs.

• Research Organization: Southern Illinois Univ., Carbondale, IL (USA). Dept. of Microbiology
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/FE
• DOE Contract Number: FG22-87PC79912; FC22-83FE60339
• OSTI ID: 6133543
• Report Number(s): CONF-900531-5; ON: DE91006632
• Resource Relation: Conference: 1. international symposium on the biological processing of coal, Orlando, FL (USA), 1-3 May 1990
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
COAL
DESULFURIZATION
ESCHERICHIA COLI
GENE MUTATIONS
FURANS
BIODEGRADATION
THIOPHENE
AIR POLLUTION ABATEMENT
DNA SEQUENCING
OXIDATION
PLASMIDS
SULFUR
BACTERIA
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CELL CONSTITUENTS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DECOMPOSITION
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS
MATERIALS
MICROORGANISMS
MUTATIONS
NONMETALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC SULFUR COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION ABATEMENT
STRUCTURAL CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
010402* - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Purification & Upgrading
550700 - Microbiology