FIG. 1.

Proposed pathway of anaerobic metabolism of phenol in the denitrifying bacterium T. aromatica. E₁, phenylphosphate synthase (reaction shown in the boxed area [studied in this work]) (EC 2.7.9.x); E₂, phenylphosphate carboxylase (EC 4.1.1.x, studied in previous work) (43). The enzymes catalyzing the subsequent conversion of 4-hydroxybenzoate to three molecules of acetyl-CoA and one molecule of CO₂ have been studied previously (8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 22, 23). The proposed enzyme-bound intermediates are shown in brackets.