Utilization of organophosphonates by environmental micro-organisms |
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Authors: | J W McGrath N G Ternan & J P Quinn |
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Institution: | School of Biology and Biochemistry, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, UK,;QUESTOR Centre, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, UK |
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Abstract: | A survey of the utilization by environmental micro-organisms of a range of compounds containing the carbon–phosphorus (C–P) bond was carried out. Elective culture studies indicated that 15 of 19 alkylphosphonates tested served only as a sole source of phosphorus for microbial growth. Their metabolism did not lead to the extracellular release of inorganic phosphate. However, four organophosphonates—phosphonoacetate, phosphonoalanine, 2-aminoethylphosphonate and phosphonomycin—supported microbial growth when supplied as either a phosphorus source or as a carbon and energy source, with near-quantitative inorganic phosphate release. Four of five aminoalkylphosphonates tested were also utilized as a nitrogen source in the presence of 1 mmol l−1 inorganic phosphate. In a subsequent screening programme, 99% of bacterial isolates tested were able to utilize 2-aminoethylphosphonate as a sole phosphorus source, 61% as a nitrogen source, 10% as a source of nitrogen and phosphorus, and 2% as a source of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus ; 2% of isolates used phosphonoalanine as a nitrogen source. These results suggest that the uptake and metabolism of organophosphonates by bacteria is less `tightly' regulated by phosphorus starvation than has previously been supposed. |
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