Bacterial metabolism of alpha-pinene: pathway from alpha-pinene oxide to acyclic metabolites in Nocardia sp. strain P18.3.

Over 20 gram-positive bacteria were isolated by elective culture with (+/-)-alpha-pinene as the sole carbon source. One of these strains, Nocardia sp. strain P18.3, was selected for detailed study. alpha-Pinene-grown cells oxidized, without lag, alpha-pinene, alpha-pinene oxide (epoxide), and the cis and trans isomers of 2-methyl-5-isopropylhexa-2,5-dienal. No other tested terpene was oxidized at a significant rate. alpha-Pinene was not metabolized by cell extracts in the presence or absence of NADH or NADPH. Cell extracts catalyzed a rapid decyclization of alpha-pinene oxide, in the absence of added cofactors, with the formation of cis-2-methyl-5-isopropylhexa-2,5-dienal. Further oxidation of the aldehyde to the corresponding acid occurred in the presence of NAD. Both activities were induced by growth with alpha-pinene. A rapid, nonenzymic transformation of the cis aldehyde into the trans isomer occurred in glycine buffer. The trans isomer was also a substrate for the NAD-linked aldehyde dehydrogenase. The distribution of the alpha-pinene oxide lyase in alpha-pinene-utilizing Pseudomonas spp. was also investigated and was compatible with the two alternative ring-cleavage sequences that have been proposed on the basis of accumulated metabolites.     

Atropine metabolism by a Pseudimanas sp.: Diauxic growth and oxidation of the products from esterase-mediated cleavage

Abstract Pseudomonas AT3 was isolated by elective culture with atropine as sole carbon source. Growth on atropine involved cleavage of the ester bond and was diauxic, with tropic acid being used in the first phase of growth followed by growth on the accumulated tropine moiety. During growth in N-limited medium, tropic acid was still used preferentially, nitrogen was provided from the tropine and novel keto compounds accumulated in the media. An inducible atropine esterase was synthesized during growth on atropine and, to a lesser extent, during growth on tropic acid and tropine. Organisms harvested from either phase of diauxic growth were able to oxidise tropic acid atropine. The ability of Pseudomonas AT3 to oxidase tropine was evident only in the second phase of growth and the greater extent of atropine oxidation in this phase reflected the ability to oxidase both cyclic components.     

Effect of Time of Application on the Action of Foliar Sprays of Oxamyl on Meloidogyne hapla in Tomato

Foliar sprays containing 3,000 or 4,000 ppm oxamyl applied before inoculation with Meloidogyne hapla completely protected tomato plants from intection for up to 36 days but sprays containing 1,000 or 2,000 ppm provided only partial protection. Postinoculation sprays were less effective than preinoculation sprays but they decreased the numbers of females and their rate of development and increased the numbers of males. Similar amounts of oxamyl applied to the soil as a drench or as granules controlled M. hapla more effectively than foliar sprays but the longer treatment was delayed after infection the fewer the larvae that were killed and the more that became male.