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. 1980 Nov;40(5):950–958. doi: 10.1128/aem.40.5.950-958.1980

Bacterial Degradation of Dichloromethane

Walter Brunner 1, Doris Staub 1, Thomas Leisinger 1
PMCID: PMC291694  PMID: 16345659

Abstract

Strain DM1, a facultative methylotrophic bacterium utilizing methanol, formate, mono-, di-, and trimethylamine, as well as dichloromethane as C1 substrates was isolated as an airborne contaminant. The organism is a strictly aerobic, gram-negative, oxidase-positive short rod, motile by a single lateral flagellum. Enzyme assays in crude extracts suggested that it assimilates C1 compounds by the serine/isocitrate lyase-negative pathway. Experiments with extended cultures demonstrated that dichloromethane is a growth-inhibitory substrate. The maximum specific growth rate of 0.11 h−1 was reached between 2 and 5 mM dichloromethane. The release of Cl−1 from dichloromethane paralleled growth in extended and continuous cultures. Molar growth yields on methanol and on dichloromethane were 18.6 and 15.7 g/mol, respectively. Since attempts to demonstrate dehalogenation of dichloromethane by crude extracts failed, a dehalogenation assay with resting cells was developed. Maximum dehalogenating activity of cell suspensions was at pH 9.0. The reaction was partially and reversibly inhibited by anaerobiosis. During a shift of a chemostat culture from methanol to dichloromethane as the carbon source, the dehalogenating activity of resting cells was increased at least 500-fold.

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Selected References

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