Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Stereoheterotopic metabolism of dibenzothiophene and benz(a)anthracene by Beijerinckia B1

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:5335239
The current studies were initiated to determine the metabolic pathway used by bacteria for the degradation benz(a)anthracene. Previous studies showed that a mutant strain of Beijerinckia strain B8/36, oxidizes benz(a(anthracene to an isometric mixture of cis-dihydrodiols. The results reported in this study represent the first evidence for the cleavage of a benzenoid nucleus in benz(a)anthracene. Physicochemical data is presented which shows that an isomeric mixture of o-hydroxypolyaromatic acids are formed from benz(a)anthracene by the wild type strain of Beijerinckia B1. The evolution of /sup 14/CO/sub 2/ from (12-/sup 14/C)-benz(a)anthracene shows that further metabolism of the o-hydroxypolyaromatic acids can occur. The enzymes responsible for the formation of these metabolites were not induced by benz(a)anthracene. However, biphenyl, m-xylene and salicylate were each effective inducing agents. Since blocked mutants were not available the metabolic pathway was analyzed enzymatically.
Research Organization:
Texas Univ., Austin (USA)
OSTI ID:
5335239
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English