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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2004, p. 1123-1128, Vol. 70, No. 2
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.2.1123-1128.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Biodegradation of the Hexahydro-1,3,5-Trinitro-1,3,5-Triazine Ring Cleavage Product 4-Nitro-2,4-Diazabutanal by Phanerochaete chrysosporium

Biotechnology Research Institute, National Research Council of Canada, Montreal, Quebec H4P 2R2, Canada,¹ U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida 32403,² SRI International, Menlo Park, California 94025³

Received 25 July 2003/ Accepted 22 October 2003

Initial denitration of hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) by Rhodococcus sp. strain DN22 produces CO₂ and the dead-end product 4-nitro-2,4-diazabutanal (NDAB), OHCNHCH₂NHNO₂, in high yield. Here we describe experiments to determine the biodegradability of NDAB in liquid culture and soils containing Phanerochaete chrysosporium. A soil sample taken from an ammunition plant contained RDX (342 µmol kg^-1), HMX (octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine; 3,057 µmol kg^-1), MNX (hexahydro-1-nitroso-3,5-dinitro-1,3,5-triazine; 155 µmol kg^-1), and traces of NDAB (3.8 µmol kg^-1). The detection of the last in real soil provided the first experimental evidence for the occurrence of natural attenuation that involved ring cleavage of RDX. When we incubated the soil with strain DN22, both RDX and MNX (but not HMX) degraded and produced NDAB (388 ± 22 µmol kg^-1) in 5 days. Subsequent incubation of the soil with the fungus led to the removal of NDAB, with the liberation of nitrous oxide (N₂O). In cultures with the fungus alone NDAB degraded to give a stoichiometric amount of N₂O. To determine C stoichiometry, we first generated [¹⁴C]NDAB in situ by incubating [¹⁴C]RDX with strain DN22, followed by incubation with the fungus. The production of ¹⁴CO₂ increased from 30 (DN22 only) to 76% (fungus). Experiments with pure enzymes revealed that manganese-dependent peroxidase rather than lignin peroxidase was responsible for NDAB degradation. The detection of NDAB in contaminated soil and its effective mineralization by the fungus P. chrysosporium may constitute the basis for the development of bioremediation technologies.

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