Microbial Degradation of Sterols

A process is described for the microbial degradation of cholesterol and plant sterols, to produce androsta-1, 4-diene-3, 17-dione and androst-4-ene-3, 17-dione, by two newly isolated bacteria designated Mycobacterium sp. NRRL B-3683 and Mycobacterium sp. NRRL B-3805. These myocbacteria produce substantial amounts of 17-ketonic compounds without appreciable degradation of the steroid nucleus. No ring degradation inhibitory agents are necessary. The first microbiological production of 20alpha-hydroxymethylpregna-1, 4-dien-3-one is also reported.     

Microbial Degradation of Asphalt

Organisms of the genera Pseudomonas, Chromobacterium, and Bacillus capable of degrading asphalt were isolated by enrichment cultures. The asphalt degradation by these organisms varied from 3 to 25% after incubation for 1 week. The effects of temperature, pH, and atmosphere of incubation on asphalt degradation were investigated and were shown to vary with different organisms on the same substrate.     

Microbial Degradation of Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane

The microbial degradation of low-molecular-weight polydimethylsiloxanes was investigated through laboratory experiments. Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane was found to be biodegraded under anaerobic conditions in composted sewage sludge, as monitored by the occurrence of the main polydimethylsiloxane degradation product, dimethylsilanediol, compared to that found in experiments with sterilized control samples.     

Microbial Degradation of Polyethylene Glycols

Mono-, di-, tri-, and tetraethylene glycols and polyethylene glycols (PEG) with molecular weight up to 20,000 were degraded by soil microorganisms. A strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa able to use a PEG of average molecular weight 20,000 was isolated from soil. Washed cells oxidized mono and tetraethylene glycols, but O₂ consumption was not detectable when such cells were incubated for short periods with PEG 20,000. However, the bacteria excreted an enzyme which converted low- and high-molecular-weight PEG to a product utilized by washed P. aeruginosa cells. Gas chromatography of the supernatant of a culture grown on PEG 20,000 revealed the presence of a compound co-chromatographing with diethylene glycol. A metabolite formed from PEG 20,000 by the extracellular enzyme preparation was identified as ethylene glycol by combined gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.     

Microbial Degradation of High-Molecular-Weight Alkanes

Measurements of biological O(2) demand showed that normal alkanes containing up to 44 carbon atoms were metabolized by microorganisms.     

Microbial Degradation of Polyethylene Glycols

Three bacterial strains have been isolated that differ in their ability to degrade polyethylene glycols (PEGs). Strains R and O showed a marked preference for growth on the low and high molecular weight PEGs, respectively, while strain Z utilized mono-ethylene glycol only. The partial degradation of PEG 200 by strains R and O was studied in some detail and the results suggested that those components of the mixture that were not utilized were converted into acidic derivatives which accumulated in the medium.     

Microbial Degradation of Natural Rubber Vulcanizates

An actinomycete, Nocardia sp. strain 835A, grows well on unvulcanized natural rubber and synthetic isoprene rubber, but not on other types of synthetic rubber. Not only unvulcanized but also various kinds of vulcanized natural rubber products were more or less utilized by the organism as the sole source of carbon and energy. The thin film from a latex glove was rapidly degraded, and the weight loss reached 75% after a 2-week cultivation period. Oligomers with molecular weights from 10⁴ to 10³ were accumulated during microbial growth on the latex glove. The partially purified oligomers were examined by infrared and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and the spectra were those expected of cis-1, 4-polyisoprene with the structure, OHC—CH₂—[—CH₂—C(—CH₃)=CH —CH₂—]_n—CH₂—C(=O)— CH₃, with average values of n of about 114 and 19 for the two oligomers.     

Aerobic Microbial Degradation of Glucoisosaccharinic Acid

α-Glucoisosaccharinic acid (GISA), a major by-product of kraft paper manufacture, was synthesized from lactose and used as the carbon source for microbial media. Ten strains of aerobic bacteria capable of growth on GISA were isolated from kraft pulp mill environments. The highest growth yields were obtained with Ancylobacter spp. at pH 7.2 to 9.5. GISA was completely degraded by cultures of an Ancylobacter isolate. Ancylobacter cell suspensions consumed oxygen and produced carbon dioxide in response to GISA addition. A total of 22 laboratory strains of bacteria were tested, and none was capable of growth on GISA. GISA-degrading isolates were not found in forest soils.     

Biochemistry of Microbial Degradation of Hexachlorocyclohexane and Prospects for Bioremediation

Summary: Lindane, the γ-isomer of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), is a potent insecticide. Purified lindane or unpurified mixtures of this and α-, β-, and δ-isomers of HCH were widely used as commercial insecticides in the last half of the 20th century. Large dumps of unused HCH isomers now constitute a major hazard because of their long residence times in soil and high nontarget toxicities. The major pathway for the aerobic degradation of HCH isomers in soil is the Lin pathway, and variants of this pathway will degrade all four of the HCH isomers although only slowly. Sequence differences in the primary LinA and LinB enzymes in the pathway play a key role in determining their ability to degrade the different isomers. LinA is a dehydrochlorinase, but little is known of its biochemistry. LinB is a hydrolytic dechlorinase that has been heterologously expressed and crystallized, and there is some understanding of the sequence-structure-function relationships underlying its substrate specificity and kinetics, although there are also some significant anomalies. The kinetics of some LinB variants are reported to be slow even for their preferred isomers. It is important to develop a better understanding of the biochemistries of the LinA and LinB variants and to use that knowledge to build better variants, because field trials of some bioremediation strategies based on the Lin pathway have yielded promising results but would not yet achieve economic levels of remediation.     

微生物降解联苯的研究进展

联苯是一种有机污染物,在自然环境中很难分解。目前研究的降解方法中,微生物降解最有潜力。微生物法处理成本低、效果好、无二次污染,且操作简单,能够实现真正意义上的再循环。该文对国内外开展的微生物降解联苯的相关研究进行了综述,对联苯降解的菌群、代谢途径及其关键酶进行了详细的阐述,指出了微生物降解联苯存在的关键问题是修复效率低,高效菌株的筛选、基因工程菌的构建及其多种修复技术的结合是今后研究的方向。     

Microbial Degradation and Assimilation of n-Alkyl-Substituted Cycloparaffins

Studies were conducted on the oxidation and assimilation of n-alkyl-substituted cycloalkane substrates by several hydrocarbon-utilizing microorganisms. These microorganisms utilized heptadecylcyclohexane and dodecylcyclohexane as the sole source of carbon and energy. Neither methylcyclohexane nor ethylcyclohexane was utilized as a growth substrate by any organisms tested. Gas-liquid chromatographic analyses of fatty acids present in cells after growth on dodecylcyclohexane confirm direct incorporation of both alpha- and beta-oxidation products. Growth patterns of these organisms on n-alkyl-substituted cyclohexane fatty acids of varying chain lengths suggest a greater probability of ring cleavage when the side chain contains an odd number of carbons.     

有机磷农药的微生物降解研究进展

微生物因种类和代谢多样性在有机磷农药降解中表现出独特的优势。对微生物降解有机磷农药的机制、微生物的获得、基因工程菌的构建及研究展望进行了综述。     

有机磷农药微生物降解研究进展

微生物降解是有机磷农药在环境中去毒降解的主要方式,是治理环境污染的一项有效手段。该文综述了有机磷农药降解菌的分离鉴定、降解机理与代谢途径、降解基因的克隆及表达、降解菌制剂和酶制剂的应用、以及有机磷农药微生物降解研究趋势五个方面的研究现状。     

Microbial Degradation of Diphenylamine Under Anoxic Conditions

Diphenylamine (DPA) was cometabolically degraded in anoxic sediment-water batch enrichments and in cultures of newly isolated sulfate-reducing bacteria. In gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) measurements, aniline was identified as a major breakdown product of the diphenylamine structure. After its identification, aniline was quantified by reversed phase high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). The fate of the other carbon ring system remained unclear, because benzene (as a product of reductive cleavage), phenol (as a product of hydrolytic cleavage), and/or other ring cleavage products of diphenylamine were not observed in our experiments with the methods employed. Received: 20 May 1997 / Accepted: 25 June 1997     

应用混料实验设计制备秸秆复合降解菌剂

农业秸秆类废弃物含有大量木质纤维素,该类物质结构稳定,不易降解,为秸秆的合理利用带来诸多困难。本实验尝试利用混料实验设计对筛选出可以共同培养的五种木质纤维素降解菌的配比进行研究,寻求复合发酵降解剂各组分的最佳配比,并分析发酵产品得到适用于不同发酵目的的菌剂。通过对发酵产品中木质素和纤维素降解率及还原糖的含量的分析建立模型,分析预测纤维素降解率最高为35.75%,木质素降解率最高为27%,还原糖含量最高为3.39mg/g。通过优化得出发酵菌剂最优配比为枯草芽胞杆菌12.1%,克鲁斯假丝酵母10%,地衣芽胞杆菌27.2%,变色栓菌10.6%,黄孢原毛平革菌40%。对应三指标的实测值为：35.47%,26.41%和2.37mg/g。     

微生物降解菲的机理研究进展

针对微生物降解菲的机理研究进展,论述了细菌、真菌在好氧、厌氧条件下代谢菲的产物以及推测的降解途径;在此基础上概括了催化反应的酶系以及编码酶系的基因簇。简要介绍了基因探针的应用,并结合本实验室的初步研究,指出了该领域有待深入探讨的问题。     

Microbial Degradation of Poly(sodium acrylate)

Poly(sodium acrylate)-utilizing microorganisms, L7-A and L7-B, were first isolated from soil. When L7-A and L7-B were used in a mixture and cultured with a 0.2% poly(sodium acrylate) nutrient source, polymers having average M_w of 1000, 1500, and 4000 were degraded to extents of 73%, 49%, and 20%, respectively, in 2 weeks. The biodegradability of poly(sodium acrylate) of high molecular weight after uv irradiation was also examined.     

Microbial Degradation of a Macrotetrolide Miticide in Soil

Macrotetrolide, a miticide consisting of tetranactin, trinactin, and dinactin, was readily biodegradable and hence did not accumulate in soil. [U-¹⁴C]macrotetrolide was rapidly degraded via its constituent hydroxycarboxylic acids to carbon dioxide and water. In culture media, however, the mixture was hydrolyzed to homononactic and nonactic acids by three strains of Bacillus sp. and two of Micrococcus sp. The latter strains were able to hydrolyze 500 μg of the antibiotic per ml within a few days and to grow in the presence of 4,000 μg of the antibiotic per ml. However, they were unable to assimilate the constituent acids which accumulated in the culture medium.