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. 1986 Mar;51(3):469–476. doi: 10.1128/aem.51.3.469-476.1986

Modulation of Affinity of a Marine Pseudomonad for Toluene and Benzene by Hydrocarbon Exposure

A T Law 2, D K Button 2,*
PMCID: PMC238903  PMID: 16347006

Abstract

Trace (microgram liter−1) quantities of either toluene or benzene injected into an amino-acid-limited continuous culture of Pseudomonas sp. strain T2 were utilized immediately with affinities of 2.6 and 6.8 liters g of cells−1 h−1, respectively, and yielded large amounts of organic products, carbon dioxide, and cells. The immediate utilization of hydrocarbons by hydrocarbon-deprived organisms helps to establish the nutritional value of nonpolar substrates in the environment. The observation of small Michaelis constants for toluene transport led to tests of metabolic competition between hydrocarbons; however, competitive inhibition of toluene metabolism was not found for benzene, naphthalene, xylene, dodecane, or amino acids. Benzene and terpenes were inhibitory at milligram liter−1 concentrations. Toluene was metabolized by a strongly inducible system when compared with benzene. The capacity of toluene to effect larger affinity values increased with exposure time and concentration. The kinetics of induction suggested saturation phenomena, resulting in an induction constant, Kind, of 96 μg of toluene liter−1. Maximal induction of amino-acid-grown cells required about 80 h, with the affinity reaching 317 liters g of cells−1 h−1.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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