Further Characterization of Bacterial Production of Anthranilic Acid from Aniline

The production of anthranilic acid (AnA) was investigated for 40 bacterial strains in the presence and absence of aniline. Resting cells of all aniline-assimilating bacteria tested produced AnA with aniline, but not without aniline. The cells of aniline-assimilating Rhodococcus erythropolis strains produced more AnA than those of other aniline-assimilating bacteria. Resting cells of several non-aniline-assimilating strains produced AnA in the absence of aniline. However, its production by these strains was much lower than that by the Rhodococcus strains. The production of AnA by cells of aniline-assimilating R. erythropolis AN-13 was promoted by aliphatic monocarboxylates, ATP, biotin and coenzyme A, and repressed by catechol analogues, N-ethylmaleimide and iodoacetate. On the other hand, its production by non-aniline-assimilating Pseudomonas sp. AN-21 was repressed by glucose, mannose and some amino acids.