This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow An erratum has been published
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kazunga, C.
Right arrow Articles by Aitken, M. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kazunga, C.
Right arrow Articles by Aitken, M. D.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Kazunga, C.
Right arrow Articles by Aitken, M. D.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2000, p. 1917-1922, Vol. 66, No. 5
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Products from the Incomplete Metabolism of Pyrene by Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon-Degrading Bacteria

Chikoma Kazunga and Michael D. Aitken*

Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7400

Received 9 December 1999/Accepted 6 March 2000

Pyrene is a regulated pollutant at sites contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). It is mineralized by some bacteria but is also transformed to nonmineral products by a variety of other PAH-degrading bacteria. We examined the formation of such products by four bacterial strains and identified and further characterized the most apparently significant of these metabolites. Pseudomonas stutzeri strain P16 and Bacillus cereus strain P21 transformed pyrene primarily to cis-4,5-dihydro-4,5-dihydroxypyrene (PYRdHD), the first intermediate in the known pathway for aerobic bacterial mineralization of pyrene. Sphingomonas yanoikuyae strain R1 transformed pyrene to PYRdHD and pyrene-4,5-dione (PYRQ). Both strain R1 and Pseudomonas saccharophila strain P15 transform PYRdHD to PYRQ nearly stoichiometrically, suggesting that PYRQ is formed by oxidation of PYRdHD to 4,5-dihydroxypyrene and subsequent autoxidation of this metabolite. A pyrene-mineralizing organism, Mycobacterium strain PYR-1, also transforms PYRdHD to PYRQ at high initial concentrations of PYRdHD. However, strain PYR-1 is able to use both PYRdHD and PYRQ as growth substrates. PYRdHD strongly inhibited phenanthrene degradation by strains P15 and R1 but had only a minor effect on strains P16 and P21. At their aqueous saturation concentrations, both PYRdHD and PYRQ severely inhibited benzo[a]pyrene mineralization by strains P15 and R1. Collectively, these findings suggest that products derived from pyrene transformation have the potential to accumulate in PAH-contaminated systems and that such products can significantly influence the removal of other PAH. However, these products may be susceptible to subsequent degradation by organisms able to metabolize pyrene more extensively if such organisms are present in the system.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, CB #7400, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7400. Phone: (919) 966-3860. Fax: (919) 966-7911. E-mail: mike_aitken{at}unc.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2000, p. 1917-1922, Vol. 66, No. 5
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Liang, Y., Gardner, D. R., Miller, C. D., Chen, D., Anderson, A. J., Weimer, B. C., Sims, R. C. (2006). Study of Biochemical Pathways and Enzymes Involved in Pyrene Degradation by Mycobacterium sp. Strain KMS. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 7821-7828 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Jouanneau, Y., Meyer, C. (2006). Purification and Characterization of an Arene cis-Dihydrodiol Dehydrogenase Endowed with Broad Substrate Specificity toward Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Dihydrodiols.. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 4726-4734 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lalucat, J., Bennasar, A., Bosch, R., Garcia-Valdes, E., Palleroni, N. J. (2006). Biology of Pseudomonas stutzeri. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 70: 510-547 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Vinas, M., Sabate, J., Espuny, M. J., Solanas, A. M. (2005). Bacterial Community Dynamics and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Degradation during Bioremediation of Heavily Creosote-Contaminated Soil. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 7008-7018 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zielinska-Park, J., Nakamura, J., Swenberg, J. A., Aitken, M. D. (2004). Aldehydic DNA lesions in calf thymus DNA and HeLa S3 cells produced by bacterial quinone metabolites of fluoranthene and pyrene. Carcinogenesis 25: 1727-1733 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Van Hamme, J. D., Singh, A., Ward, O. P. (2003). Recent Advances in Petroleum Microbiology. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 67: 503-549 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»