NAD(P)H:flavin mononucleotide oxidoreductase inactivation during 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene reduction

Bacteria readily transform 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), a contaminant frequently found at military bases and munitions production facilities, by reduction of the nitro group substituents. In this work, the kinetics of nitroreduction were investigated by using a model nitroreductase, NAD(P)H:flavin mononucleotide (FMN) oxidoreductase. Under mediation by NAD(P)H:FMN oxidoreductase, TNT rapidly reacted with NADH to form 2-hydroxylamino-4,6-dinitrotoluene and 4-hydroxylamino-2,6-dinitrotoluene, whereas 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene and 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene were not produced. Progressive loss of activity was observed during TNT reduction, indicating inactivation of the enzyme during transformation. It is likely that a nitrosodinitrotoluene intermediate reacted with the NAD(P)H:FMN oxidoreductase, leading to enzyme inactivation. A half-maximum constant with respect to NADH, K(N), of 394 microM was measured, indicating possible NADH limitation under typical cellular conditions. A mathematical model that describes the inactivation process and NADH limitation provided a good fit to TNT reduction profiles. This work represents the first step in developing a comprehensive enzyme level understanding of nitroarene biotransformation.     

Rapid separation of reduction products of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene using TLC

Silica gel TLC methods were developed for the separation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) in mixtures with possible reduction products. The methods employed repeated elutions with simple binary or ternary solvent systems in either one or two dimensional modes. The resolved analytes include TNT, selected amino derivatives (2-amino-4,6-di-nitrotoluene, 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene, 2,4-diamino-6-nitrotoluene) and known hydroxylamino derivatives (2-hydroxyl-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene, 4-hydroxylamino-2,6-dinitrotoluene and 2,4-dihydroxylamino-6-nitrotoluene).     

Biodegradation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene byPhanerochaete chrysosporium: Identification of initial degradation products and the discovery of a TNT metabolite that inhibits lignin peroxidases

Biodegradation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) by the wood-rotting BasidiomycetePhanerochaete chrysosporium was studied in a fixed-film silicone membrane bioreactor and in agitated pellected cultures. The initial intermediate products of TNT biodegradation were shown to be 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene (2amDNT) and 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene (4amDNT). These intermediates were also degraded byP. chrysosporium. However, their rates of degradation were slow and appeared to represent rate-limiting steps in TNT degradation. The fact that 2amDNT and 4amDNT were further degraded is of importance. In most other microbial systems these compounds are typically not further degraded or are dimerized to even more persistent azo and azoxydimers. Similar to previous studies performed in stationary cultures, it was shown that substantial amounts of [¹⁴C]-TNT were degrade to [¹⁴C]-carbon dioxide in agitated pelleted cultures. Lignin peroxidase activity (assayed by veratryl alcohol oxidation) virtually disappeared upon addition of TNT to ligninolytic cultures ofP. chrysosporium. However, TNT, 2amDNT, and 4amDNT did not inhibit lignin peroxidase activity, nor were they substrates for this enzyme. Subsequent studies revealed that 4-hydroxylamino-2,6-dinitrotoluene, an intermediate in TNT reduction, was a potent lignin peroxidase inhibitor. Further studies revealed that this compound was also a substrate for lignin peroxidase H8.     

Inhibition of the lignin peroxidase of Phanerochaete chrysosporium by hydroxylamino-dinitrotoluene, an early intermediate in the degradation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene.

The ability of the white rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium to mineralize 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) was studied in the concentration range of 0.36 to 20.36 mg/liter. The initial rate of 14CO2 formation was 30% in 4 days at 0.36 mg of [14C]TNT per liter and decreased to 5% in 4 days at 20.36 mg of [14C]TNT per liter. Such a pronounced inhibition was not observed when a mixture of [14C]2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene and [14C]4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene was used as a substrate. 2-Hydroxylamino-4,6-dinitrotoluene and its isomer 4-hydroxylamino-2,6-dinitrotoluene were identified as the first detectable degradation products of TNT. Their transient accumulation correlated with the inhibition of TNT degradation and of the veratryl alcohol oxidase activity of lignin peroxidase. With purified lignin peroxidase H8, it could be shown that the two isomers of hydroxylamino-dinitrotoluene were oxidized by lignin peroxidase. The corresponding nitroso-dinitrotoluenes apparently were formed, as indicated by the formation of azoxy-tetranitrotoluenes.     

Biodegradation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) by the white-rot basidiomycete Phlebia radiata

Phlebia radiatatransformed 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), as well as its first reduction products, the aminodinitrotoluenes, into 4-hydroxylamino-2,6-dinitrotoluene (4-OHA-2,6-DNT) and 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene (4-A-2,6-DNT). No extracellular peroxidases were involved in this step. The ligninolytic extracellular fluid, assumed to contain peroxidases, did not reduce TNT. However, ligninolytic peroxidases are implicated in the transformation of the first reduction products of TNT.     

Anaerobic transformation of 2,4,6-TNT by bovine ruminal microbes

Degradation of TNT by bovine rumen fluid, a novel source of anaerobic microbes, was investigated. Whole rumen fluid contents were spiked with TNT and incubated for a 24h time period. Supernatant samples taken at 0, 1, 2, 4, and 24h were analyzed by reverse-phase HPLC with diode array detection. Within 1h, TNT was not detectable and reduction products of TNT including 2-hydroxyl-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene, 4-hydroxylamino-2,6-dinitrotoluene, and 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene were present with smaller amounts of diamino-nitrotoluenes. Within 2h, only the diamino and dihydroxyamino-nitrotoluene products remained. After 4h, 2,4-diamino-6-nitrotoluene and 2,4-dihydroxyamino-6-nitrotoluene were the only known molecular species left. At 24h known UV absorbing metabolites were no longer detected, suggesting further transformation such as complete reduction to triaminotoluene or destruction of the aromatic ring of TNT may have occurred. TNT was not transformed at 24h in autoclaved and buffered controls. This study presents the first direct evidence of biodegradation of TNT by ruminal microbes.     

TNT Biotransformation and Detoxification by a Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Strain

Successful microbial-mediated remediation requires transformationpathways that maximize metabolism and minimize the accumulation of toxic products. Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain MX, isolated from munitions-contaminated soil, degraded 100 mg TNT L^-1 in culture medium within 10 h under aerobic conditions. The major TNT products were 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene (2ADNT, primarily in the supernatant) and 2,2'-azoxytoluene (2,2'AZT, primarily in the cell fraction), which accumulated as major products via the intermediate2-hydroxylamino-4,6-dinitrotoluene (2HADNT). The 2HADNT and2,2'AZT were relatively less toxic to the strain than TNT and 2ADNT. Aminodinitrotoluene (ADNT) production increased when yeast extract was added to the medium. While TNT transformation rate was not affected by pH, more HADNTs accumulated at pH 5.0 than at pH 8.0 and AZTs did not accumulate at the lower pH. The appearance of 2,6-diamino-4-nitrotoluene (2,6DANT) and 2,4-diamino-6-nitrotoluene (2,4DANT); dinitrotoluene (DNT) and nitrotoluene (NT); and 3,5-dinitroaniline (3,5DNA) indicated various routes of TNT metabolism and detoxification by P. aeruginosa strain MX.     

Transformation of 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene by Purified Xenobiotic Reductase B from Pseudomonas fluorescens I-C

The enzymatic transformation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) by purified XenB, an NADPH-dependent flavoprotein oxidoreductase from Pseudomonas fluorescens I-C, was evaluated by using natural abundance and [U-¹⁴C]TNT preparations. XenB catalyzed the reduction of TNT either by hydride addition to the aromatic ring or by nitro group reduction, with the accumulation of various tautomers of the protonated dihydride-Meisenheimer complex of TNT, 2-hydroxylamino-4,6-dinitrotoluene, and 4-hydroxylamino-2,6-dinitrotoluene. Subsequent reactions of these metabolites were nonenzymatic and resulted in predominant formation of at least three dimers with an anionic m/z of 376 as determined by negative-mode electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and the release of ~0.5 mol of nitrite per mol of TNT consumed. The extents of the initial enzymatic reactions were similar in the presence and in the absence of O₂, but the dimerization reaction and the release of nitrite were favored under aerobic conditions or under anaerobic conditions in the presence of NADP⁺. Reactions of chemically and enzymatically synthesized and high-pressure liquid chromatography-purified TNT metabolites showed that both a hydroxylamino-dinitrotoluene isomer and a tautomer of the protonated dihydride-Meisenheimer complex of TNT were required precursors for the dimerization and nitrite release reactions. The m/z 376 dimers also reacted with either dansyl chloride or N-1-naphthylethylenediamine HCl, providing evidence for an aryl amine functional group. In combination, the experimental results are consistent with assigning the chemical structures of the m/z 376 species to various isomers of amino-dimethyl-tetranitrobiphenyl. A mechanism for the formation of these proposed TNT metabolites is presented, and the potential enzymatic and environmental significance of their formation is discussed.     

A Transient Study of Formation of Conjugates during TNT Metabolism by Plant Tissues

The formation of TNT-derived conjugates was investigated in hairy root tissue cultures of Catharanthus roseus and in aquatic plant systems of Myriophyllum aquaticum. The temporal profiles of four TNT-derived conjugates, TNT-1, 2A-1, TNT-2 and 4A-1, were determined over 3 to 16-day exposure durations. When axenic C. roseus roots were exposed separately to 2,4,6 trinitrotoluene, 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene and 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene, the array and levels of conjugates varied. Exposure of axenic roots to either 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene or 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene resulted in the formation of only 4A-1 and 2A-1, respectively, and not TNT-1 and TNT-2. However, amendment of previously unexposed roots with TNT produced all four conjugates. The conjugates were preferentially accumulated within the biomass phase of root cultures. Significantly, conjugates TNT-1 and TNT-2 were observed in the biomass phase of intact M. aquaticum plants exposed to TNT. The results clearly indicate the presence of common TNT transformation products in two diverse plants species and tissue type. The distribution of conjugates formed via monoamine derivatives of TNT, however, may be a function of several factors, including the starting xenobiotic type and/or level. Initial bulk rate constants for disappearance of 2,4,6 trinitrotoluene, 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene, and 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene were also determined. Their magnitude followed the order: TNT >> 4-A-2,6-DNT > 2-A-4,6-DNT.     

2,4,6-trinitrotoluene as a trigger of oxidative stress in Fagopyrum tataricum callus cells

Effect of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) on callus cells of Tartar buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum (L.) Gaertn.) was accompanied by six-electron reduction of ortho- or para-nitro groups of the xenobiotic with the production of 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene (2-ADNT) and 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene (4-ADNT). It was discovered that the xenobiotic TNT impairs integrity of cell membrane, which apparently results from its one-electron reduction coupled with production of nitro radical-anion and superoxide anion.     

Transformation of 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene by Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes JS52

Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes JS52 grows on nitrobenzene via partial reduction of the nitro group and enzymatic rearrangement of the resultant hydroxylamine. Cells and cell extracts of nitrobenzene-grown JS52 catalyzed the transient formation of 4-hydroxylamino-2,6-dinitrotoluene (4HADNT), 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene (4ADNT), and four previously unidentified metabolites from 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT). Two of the novel metabolites were identified by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry and (sup1)H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy as 2,4-dihydroxylamino-6-nitrotoluene (DHANT) and 2-hydroxylamino-4-amino-6-nitrotoluene (2HA4ANT). A polar yellow metabolite also accumulated during transformation of TNT by cells and cell extracts. Under anaerobic conditions, extracts of strain JS52 did not catalyze the production of the yellow metabolite or release nitrite from TNT; moreover, DHANT and 2HA4ANT accumulated under anaerobic conditions, which indicated that their further metabolism was oxygen dependent. Small amounts of nitrite were released during transformation of TNT by strain JS52. Sustained transformation of TNT by cells required nitrobenzene, which indicated that TNT transformation does not provide energy. Transformation of TNT catalyzed by enzymes in cell extracts required NADPH. Transformation experiments with (sup14)C-TNT indicated that TNT was not mineralized; however, carbon derived from TNT became associated with cells. Nitrobenzene nitroreductase purified from strain JS52 transformed TNT to DHANT via 4HADNT, which indicated that the nitroreductase could catalyze the first two steps in the transformation of TNT. The unusual ability of the nitrobenzene nitroreductase to catalyze the stoichiometric reduction of aromatic nitro compounds to the corresponding hydroxylamine provides the basis for the novel pathway for metabolism of TNT.     

Purification and properties of a NAD(P)H:flavin oxidoreductase from the luminous bacterium, Beneckea harveyi.

A NAD(P)H:flavin oxidoreductase, which produces FMNH2, one of the substrates for the luciferase reaction in bioluminescent bacteria, has been purified with the aid of affinity chromatography on epsilon-aminohexanoyl-FMN-Sepharose. The purified enzyme, isolated from Beneckea harveyi, had a specific activity of 89 mumol of NADH oxidized/min/mg of protein at 23 degrees in the presence of saturating FMN and NADH and appeared homogeneous by several criteria on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A molecular weight of 24,000 was estimated both by gel filtration and and sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis indicating that the enzyme is composed of a single polypeptide chain. Kinetic studies showed that the higher specificity of the enzyme for NADH than NADPH and for riboflavin and FMN than FAD was primarily due to variations in the Michaelis constants for the different substrates. Initial velocity studies with all pairs of substrates gave intersecting patterns supporting a sequential mechanism for the NAD(P)H:flavin oxidoreductase.     

2,4,6-trinitrotoluene reduction by carbon monoxide dehydrogenase from Clostridium thermoaceticum

Purified CO dehydrogenase (CODH) from Clostridium thermoaceticum catalyzed the transformation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT). The intermediates and reduced products of TNT transformation were separated and appear to be identical to the compounds formed by C. acetobutylicum, namely, 2-hydroxylamino-4,6-dinitrotoluene (2HA46DNT), 4-hydroxylamino-2,6-dinitrotoluene (4HA26DNT), 2, 4-dihydroxylamino-6-nitrotoluene (24DHANT), and the Bamberger rearrangement product of 2,4-dihydroxylamino-6-nitrotoluene. In the presence of saturating CO, CODH catalyzed the conversion of TNT to two monohydroxylamino derivatives (2HA46DNT and 4HA26DNT), with 4HA26DNT as the dominant isomer. These derivatives were then converted to 24DHANT, which slowly converted to the Bamberger rearrangement product. Apparent K(m) and k(cat) values of TNT reduction were 165 +/- 43 microM for TNT and 400 +/- 94 s(-1), respectively. Cyanide, an inhibitor for the CO/CO(2) oxidation/reduction activity of CODH, inhibited the TNT degradation activity of CODH.     

Purification and characterization of NAD(P)H-dependent nitroreductase I from Klebsiella sp. C1 and enzymatic transformation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene

Three NAD(P)H-dependent nitroreductases that can transform 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) by two reduction pathways were detected in Klebsiella sp. C1. Among these enzymes, the protein with the highest reduction activity of TNT (nitroreductase I) was purified to homogeneity using ion-exchange, hydrophobic interaction, and size exclusion chromatographies. Nitroreductase I has a molecular mass of 27 kDa as determined by SDS-PAGE, and exhibits a broad pH optimum between 5.5 and 6.5, with a temperature optimum of 30–40°C. Flavin mononucleotide is most likely the natural flavin cofactor of this enzyme. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of this enzyme does not show a high degree of sequence similarity with nitroreductases from other enteric bacteria. This enzyme catalyzed the two-electron reduction of several nitroaromatic compounds with very high specific activities of NADPH oxidation. In the enzymatic transformation of TNT, 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene and 2,2′,6,6′-tetranitro-4,4′-azoxytoluene were detected as transformation products. Although this bacterium utilizes the direct ring reduction and subsequent denitration pathway together with a nitro group reduction pathway, metabolites in direct ring reduction of TNT could not easily be detected. Unlike other nitroreductases, nitroreductase I was able to transform hydroxylaminodinitrotoluenes (HADNT) into aminodinitrotoluenes (ADNT), and could reduce ortho isomers (2-HADNT and 2-ADNT) more easily than their para isomers (4-HADNT and 4-ADNT). Only the nitro group in the ortho position of 2,4-DNT was reduced to produce 2-hydroxylamino-4-nitrotoluene by nitroreductase I; the nitro group in the para position was not reduced.     

Properties and synthesis regulation of NAD(P)H dehydrogenases from Rhodobacter capsulatus

Three NAD(P)H dehydrogenases were found and purified from a soluble fraction of cells of the purple non-sulfur bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus, strain B10. Molecular mass of NAD(P)H, NADPH and NADH dehydrogenases are 67 000 (4 · 18 000), 35 000 and 39 000, and the isoelectric points are 4.6, 4.3 and 4.5, respectively. NAD(P)H dehydrogenase is characterized by a higher sensitivity to quinacrine, NADPH dehydrogenase by its sensitivity to p-chloromercuribenzoate and NADH dehydrogenase by its sensitivity to sodium arsenite. In contrast to the other two enzymes, NAD(P)H dehydrogenase is capable of oxidizing NADPH as well as NADH, but the ratio of their oxidation rates depends on the pH. All NAD(P)H dehydrogenases reacted with ferricyanide, 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol, benzoquinone and naphthoquinone, but did not exhibit transhydrogenase, reductase or oxidase activity. Moreover, NADH dehydrogenase was also capable of reducing FAD and FMN. NAD(P)H and NADH dehydrogenases possessed cytochrome-c reductase activity, which was stimulated by menadione and ubiquinone Q₁. The activity of NAD(P)H and NADH dehydrogenases depended on culture-growth conditions. The activity of NAD(P)H dehydrogenase from cells grown under chemoheterotrophic aerobic conditions was the lowest and it increased notably under photoheterotrophic anaerobic conditions upon lactate or malate growth limitation. The activity of NADH dehydrogenase was higher from the cells grown under photoheterotrophic anaerobic conditions upon nitrate growth limitation and under chemoheterotrophic aerobic conditions. NADPH dehydrogenase synthesis dependence on R. capsulatus growth conditions was insignificant.     

Transformation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene by purified xenobiotic reductase B from Pseudomonas fluorescens I-C

The enzymatic transformation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) by purified XenB, an NADPH-dependent flavoprotein oxidoreductase from Pseudomonas fluorescens I-C, was evaluated by using natural abundance and [U-(14)C]TNT preparations. XenB catalyzed the reduction of TNT either by hydride addition to the aromatic ring or by nitro group reduction, with the accumulation of various tautomers of the protonated dihydride-Meisenheimer complex of TNT, 2-hydroxylamino-4,6-dinitrotoluene, and 4-hydroxylamino-2, 6-dinitrotoluene. Subsequent reactions of these metabolites were nonenzymatic and resulted in predominant formation of at least three dimers with an anionic m/z of 376 as determined by negative-mode electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and the release of approximately 0.5 mol of nitrite per mol of TNT consumed. The extents of the initial enzymatic reactions were similar in the presence and in the absence of O(2), but the dimerization reaction and the release of nitrite were favored under aerobic conditions or under anaerobic conditions in the presence of NADP(+). Reactions of chemically and enzymatically synthesized and high-pressure liquid chromatography-purified TNT metabolites showed that both a hydroxylamino-dinitrotoluene isomer and a tautomer of the protonated dihydride-Meisenheimer complex of TNT were required precursors for the dimerization and nitrite release reactions. The m/z 376 dimers also reacted with either dansyl chloride or N-1-naphthylethylenediamine HCl, providing evidence for an aryl amine functional group. In combination, the experimental results are consistent with assigning the chemical structures of the m/z 376 species to various isomers of amino-dimethyl-tetranitrobiphenyl. A mechanism for the formation of these proposed TNT metabolites is presented, and the potential enzymatic and environmental significance of their formation is discussed.     

Mechanism of action of the inhibition of pyridine-nucleotide-dependent flavine enzymes using the systemic fungicide Dexon]

The actions of Dexon on the NADH-ferricyanide oxidoreductase and the NADPH oxidase system of electron transfer particles (ETP) from beef heart as well as on the NADPH-cytochrome c oxidoreductase from brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces carlsbergensis Hansen) were investigated. The inhibition of the NADH dehydrogenase activity of ETP and that of the yeast enzyme correspond with respect to the following characteristics: 1) increase in the inhibition, 2) enhancement of the Dexon sensitivity by one order of magnitude after preincubation in the presence of NAD(P)H, 3) irreversibility of the inhibition, 4) no detectable changes in the spectral properties and in coenzyme activity of FMN after acid extraction from Dexon-treated enzyme. The inhibition of the NADH dehydrogenase activity of ETP is diminished by both NAD+ and FMN. However, no interaction of Dexon with NAD(P)H or FMN could be detected in the absence of enzyme or apoenzyme. The concentration of half-inhibition by Dexon for the yeast enzyme corresponds with its FMN concentration. It is proposed that both apoenzyme, NAD(P)H and FMN are involved in the interaction with Dexon. Possible mechanisms of binding are both complanar complexations of the ring systems and a triazene formation between FMNH2 and Dexon. The NADPH oxidase activity of the ETP is partly inhibited; the share inhibited by Dexon may represent the pathway via the transhydrogenase reaction.     

2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene Reduction by Carbon Monoxide Dehydrogenase from Clostridium thermoaceticum

Purified CO dehydrogenase (CODH) from Clostridium thermoaceticum catalyzed the transformation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT). The intermediates and reduced products of TNT transformation were separated and appear to be identical to the compounds formed by C. acetobutylicum, namely, 2-hydroxylamino-4,6-dinitrotoluene (2HA46DNT), 4-hydroxylamino-2,6-dinitrotoluene (4HA26DNT), 2,4-dihydroxylamino-6-nitrotoluene (24DHANT), and the Bamberger rearrangement product of 2,4-dihydroxylamino-6-nitrotoluene. In the presence of saturating CO, CODH catalyzed the conversion of TNT to two monohydroxylamino derivatives (2HA46DNT and 4HA26DNT), with 4HA26DNT as the dominant isomer. These derivatives were then converted to 24DHANT, which slowly converted to the Bamberger rearrangement product. Apparent K_m and k_cat values of TNT reduction were 165 ± 43 μM for TNT and 400 ± 94 s⁻¹, respectively. Cyanide, an inhibitor for the CO/CO₂ oxidation/reduction activity of CODH, inhibited the TNT degradation activity of CODH.     

Degradation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene by Serratia marcescens

A strain of Serratia marcescens, isolated from the soil of a contaminated site, degraded 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) as the sole source of carbon and energy. At an initial concentration of 50mg , TNT was totally degraded in 48h under aerobic conditions in a minimal salt medium. Reduction intermediates (4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene and 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene) were observed. The presence of a surfactant (Tween 80) is essential to facilitate rapid degradation.     

Aerobic TNT Reduction via 2-Hydroxylamino-4,6-Dinitrotoluene by Pseudomonas aeruginosa Strain MX Isolated from Munitions-Contaminated Soil

Bioremediation of munitions-contaminated soil requires effective transformation and detoxification of high concentrations of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT). Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain MX, isolated from munitions-contaminated soil, aerobically transformed TNT (100 mg/L) in culture medium within 15 h, causing transient accumulation of hydroxylaminodinitrotoluenes (HADNTs). The predominance of 2-hydroxylamino-4,6-dinitrotoluene (2HADNT), as well as 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene (2ADNT) and 4,4' ,6,6' -tetranitro-2,2' -azoxytoluene (2,2'AZT), indicated preferential reduction of the TNT ortho nitro group. While only 12% of the TNT was transformed to 2ADNT, up to 65% was transformed to tetranitroazoxytoluenes (AZTs), which accumulated as a precipitate. The precipitate was formed by microscopic particles adhering to bacterial cells, which subsequently formed clusters containing lysed cells. Toxicity toward bacteria was primarily attributed to 2ADNT, because pure AZTs preincubated with sterile medium had little effect on the strain. While the culture medium containing TNT exhibited toxicity toward corn (Zea mays L.) and witchgrass (Panicum capillare L.), little phytotoxicity was observed after incubating with P. aeruginosa strain MX for 4 d. Strong binding of HADNTs to soil and low AZT bioavailability may further promote the detoxification of TNT in soil.