Table 3.

Anaerobic transformation of hydrocarbons by selected bacteria via succinate formation or hydroxylation.^a

Hydrocarbon	Strain
	Electron acceptor
	Substrate activationb
	EbN1		mXyS1		OcN1		TD3
	${\text{NO}}_3^{-}$		${\text{SO}}_4^{2-}$		${\text{NO}}_3^{-}$		${\text{SO}}_4^{2-}$
	AS	H	AS	H	AS	H	AS	H
Toluene	+	+	+	−	+	+	+	+
Ethylbenzene	−	+	nt		+	+	+	+
Propylbenzene	nt		nt		−	+	−	+
Butylbenzene	nt		nt		+	+	+	−
o-Xylene	+	+	+	−	+	+	+	+
o-Ethyltoluene	+	+	nt		−	+	−	+
o-Isopropyltoluene	nt		nt		−	+	−	+
m-Xylene	+	−	+	−	+	−	+	−
m-Ethyltoluene	−	+	+	−	+	+	+	+
m-Isopropyltoluene	nt		nt		−	−	+	+
p-Xylene	−	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
p-Ethyltoluene	−	+	nt		+	+	+	+
p-Isopropylbenzene	nt		nt		+	−	+	−
p-tert-Butylbenzene	nt		nt		+	−	+	−
1,2,3-Trimethylbenzene	nt		nt		−	+	−	+
1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene	nt		+	+	−	+	+	+
1,3,5-Trimethylbenzene	nt		+	−	−	−	−	−
1,2,3,5-Tetramethylbenzene	nt		nt		−	+	−	+
1,2,4,5-Tetramethylbenzene	nt		nt		−	+	−	+
Pentamethylbenzene	nt		nt		−	+	−	+
Hexamethylbenzene	nt		nt		−	+	−	+
Hydroxylation	Both activations				Succinate formation

^aTransformation and further oxidation of the respective hydrocarbon during anaerobic growth of the used bacteria in binary substrate mixture experiments (+, detected; −, not detected; nt, not tested), as revealed by identification of the respective metabolites. For detailed characterization of product formation see Supplementary Table S9.

^bSubstrate activation via arylalkylsuccinate formation (AS) or anaerobic hydroxylation (H). For details of the cultivation and the strains used see Tables 1, 2.