Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Applied and Environmental Microbiology logoLink to Applied and Environmental Microbiology
. 1982 Sep;44(3):619–626. doi: 10.1128/aem.44.3.619-626.1982

Involvement of plasmids in total degradation of chlorinated biphenyls.

K Furukawa, A M Chakrabarty
PMCID: PMC242067  PMID: 6814360

Abstract

Acinetobacter sp. strain P6 has previously been reported to utilize biphenyl (BP) and chlorinated BPs, with accumulation of corresponding chlorobenzoic acids. Arthrobacter sp. strain M5 was isolated as a contaminant in the culture of Acinetobacter sp. strain P6 growing on 4-chlorobiphenyl and showed properties similar to P6 in the degradation of chlorinated BPs. Both strains harbored an identical plasmid of 53.7 megadaltons. These strains spontaneously lost the ability to utilize BP and 4-chlorobiphenyl with high frequency (4 to 8%) after overnight growth in nutrient broth. The BP- derivatives could not regain the BP-assimilating ability (reversion frequency, less than 10(-9) per cell per generation) but retained the plasmid with small, detectable deletions. BP+ P6 cells grown on BP or benzoate oxidized BP and 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl and produced meta cleavage compounds from the latter compound (lambda max, 434 nm) and also from catechol (lambda max, 375 nm) through the meta pathway. On the other hand, benzoate-grown BP- segregants totally lost the BP-metabolizing activities and oxidized catechol through the ortho pathway. A combined culture of the chlorinated BP-dissimilating P6 or M5 strain (harboring the putative 53.7-megadalton plasmid specifying conversion of chlorobiphenyls to chlorobenzoic acids) and genetically constructed mono- or dichlorobenzoate-utilizing pseudomonads (harboring plasmids encoding complete utilization of mono- or dichlorobenzoates) allowed greater than 98% utilization of mono- and dichlorobiphenyls, with the liberation of equivalent amounts of chloride ions.

Full text

PDF
619

Images in this article

621Image
on p.621
621Image
on p.621

Selected References

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

  1. Ahmed M., Focht D. D. Degradation of polychlorinated biphenyls by two species of Achromobacter. Can J Microbiol. 1973 Jan;19(1):47–52. doi: 10.1139/m73-007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Chakrabarty A. M. Plasmids in Pseudomonas. Annu Rev Genet. 1976;10:7–30. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ge.10.120176.000255. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Clark R. R., Chian E. S., Griffin R. A. Degradation of polychlorinated biphenyls by mixed microbial cultures. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1979 Apr;37(4):680–685. doi: 10.1128/aem.37.4.680-685.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Furukawa K., Matsumura F. Microbial metabolism of polychlorinated biphenyls. Studies on the relative degradability of polychlorinated biphenyl components by Alkaligenes sp. J Agric Food Chem. 1976 Mar-Apr;24(2):251–256. doi: 10.1021/jf60204a002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Furukawa K., Tomizuka N., Kamibayashi A. Effect of chlorine substitution on the bacterial metabolism of various polychlorinated biphenyls. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1979 Aug;38(2):301–310. doi: 10.1128/aem.38.2.301-310.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Furukawa K., Tonomura K., Kamibayashi A. Effect of chlorine substitution on the biodegradability of polychlorinated biphenyls. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1978 Feb;35(2):223–227. doi: 10.1128/aem.35.2.223-227.1978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hartmann J., Reineke W., Knackmuss H. J. Metabolism of 3-chloro-, 4-chloro-, and 3,5-dichlorobenzoate by a pseudomonad. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1979 Mar;37(3):421–428. doi: 10.1128/aem.37.3.421-428.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Heinaru A. L., Duggleby C. J., Broda P. Molecular relationships of degradative plasmids determined by in situ hybridisation of their endonuclease-generated fragments. Mol Gen Genet. 1978 Apr 17;160(3):347–351. doi: 10.1007/BF00332979. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kunz D. A., Ribbons D. W., Chapman P. J. Metabolism of allylglycine and cis-crotylglycine by Pseudomonas putida (arvilla) mt-2 harboring a TOL plasmid. J Bacteriol. 1981 Oct;148(1):72–82. doi: 10.1128/jb.148.1.72-82.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Rothera A. C. Note on the sodium nitro-prusside reaction for acetone. J Physiol. 1908 Dec 15;37(5-6):491–494. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1908.sp001285. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Southern E. M. Detection of specific sequences among DNA fragments separated by gel electrophoresis. J Mol Biol. 1975 Nov 5;98(3):503–517. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(75)80083-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Tucker E. S., Saeger V. W., Hicks O. Activated sludge primary biodegradation of polychlorinated biphenyls. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol. 1975 Dec;14(6):705–713. doi: 10.1007/BF01685246. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Williams P. A., Murray K. Metabolism of benzoate and the methylbenzoates by Pseudomonas putida (arvilla) mt-2: evidence for the existence of a TOL plasmid. J Bacteriol. 1974 Oct;120(1):416–423. doi: 10.1128/jb.120.1.416-423.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Williams P. A., Worsey M. J. Ubiquity of plasmids in coding for toluene and xylene metabolism in soil bacteria: evidence for the existence of new TOL plasmids. J Bacteriol. 1976 Mar;125(3):818–828. doi: 10.1128/jb.125.3.818-828.1976. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Worsey M. J., Williams P. A. Characterization of a spontaneously occurring mutant of the TOL20 plasmid in Pseudomonas putida MT20: possible regulatory implications. J Bacteriol. 1977 Jun;130(3):1149–1158. doi: 10.1128/jb.130.3.1149-1158.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied and Environmental Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES