Formation of 3-Ethylsalicylic Acid from 3-Ethyltoluene byPseudomonas ovalis

The biodegradation of aromatic hydrocarbons by bacteria

Aromatic compounds of both natural and man-made sources abound in the environment. The degradation of such chemicals is mainly accomplished by microorganisms. This review provides key background information but centres on recent developments in the bacterial degradation of selected man-made aromatic compounds. An aromatic compound can only be considered to be biodegraded if the ring undergoes cleavage, and this is taken as the major criteria for inclusion in this review (although the exact nature of the enzymic ring-cleavage has not been confirmed in all cases discussed). The biodegradation of benzene, certain arenes, biphenyl and selected fused aromatic hydrocarbons, by single bacterial isolates, are dealt with in detail.

Catabolism of pseudocumene and 3-ethyltoluene by Pseudomonas putida (arvilla) mt-2: evidence for new functions of the TOL (pWWO) plasmid

Pseudocumene (1,2,4-trimethylbenzene) and 3-ethyltoluene were found to serve as growth substrates for Pseudomonas putida (arvilla) mt-2, in addition to toluene, m-xylene, and p-xylene as previously described. Similar observations were made with several additional P. putida strains also capable of growth with toluene and the xylenes. Additional substrates which supported the growth of these organisms included 3,4-dimethylbenzyl alcohol, 3,4-dimethylbenzoate, and 3-ethylbenzoate. P. putida mt-2 cells grown either with toluene or pseudocumene rapidly oxidized toluene, pseudocumene, and 3-ethyltoluene as well as 3,4-dimethylbenzoate, 3-ethylbenzoate, 3,4-dimethylcatechol, and 3-ethylcatechol. Cell extracts from similarly grown P. putida mt-2 cells catalyzed a meta fission of 3,4-dimethylcatechol and 3-ethylcatechol to compounds having the spectral properties of 2-hydroxy-5-methyl-6-oxo-2,4-heptadienoate and 2-hydroxy-6-ox-2,4-octadienoate, respectively. The further metabolism of these intermediates was shown to be independent of oxidized nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) and resulted in the formation of essentially equimolar amounts of pyruvate, indicating that each ring fission product was degraded via the hydrolytic branch of the meta fission pathway. Treatment of cells with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine led to the isolation of a mutant, which when grown with succinate in the presence of pseudocumene or 3-ethyltoluene accumulated 3,4-dimethylcatechol or 3-ethylcatechol. Cells unable to utilize toluene, m-xylene, and p-xylene, obtained by growth in benzoate, also lost the ability to utilize pseudocumene and 3-ethyltoluene. The ability to utilize these substrates could be reacquired by incubation with a leucine auxotroph otherwise able to grow on all of the aromatic substrates.