Induction of PAH degradation in a phenanthrene-degrading pseudomonad
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Civil Engineering
- Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (United States). Dept. of Environmental Science and Engineering
Recent evidence suggests that different polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) substrates are metabolized by common enzymes in PAH-degrading bacteria, implying that inducers for low-molecular-weight PAH degradation may coinduce for the metabolism of higher-molecular-weight compounds. The authors have tested this hypothesis with a well-characterized PAH-degrading bacterium, Pseudomonas saccharophila P-15. Growth of P-15 on salicylate, a metabolite of phenanthrene degradation, and a known inducer for naphthalene degradation, induced the metabolism of both substrates. Several potential inducers were then tested for their effects on metabolism of the four-ring compounds pyrene and fluoranthene, neither of which is a growth substrate for P-15, but both of which can be metabolized by this organism. Incubation of P-15 in the presence of phenanthrene or salicylate induced the metabolism of pyrene and fluoranthene in resting-cell assays. Catechol, another intermediate of naphthalene and phenanthrene degradation, did not induce the metabolism of either compound and interfered with the inducing effect of salicylate. These results have implications for strategies designed to maintain PAH degradation in contaminated environments, particularly for compounds that are degraded slowly or are degraded only by nongrowth metabolism.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- National Inst. of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 484952
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950483--; ISBN 1-57477-009-8
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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