Novel mechanisms of biotransformation of p-tert-amylphenol by bacteria and fungi with special degradation abilities and simultaneous detoxification of the disinfectant

The compound p-tert-amylphenol (p-(1,1-dimethylpropyl)phenol) is a widely used disinfectant belonging to the group of short branched-chain alkylphenols. It is produced in or imported into the USA with more than one million pounds per year and can be found in the environment in surface water, sediments, and soil. We have investigated for the first time the biotransformation of this disinfectant and the accumulation of metabolites by five bacterial strains, three yeast strains, and three filamentous fungi, selected because of their ability to transform either aromatic or branched-chain compounds. Of the 11 microorganisms tested, one yeast strain and three bacteria could not transform the disinfectant despite of a very low concentration applied (0.005 %). None of the other seven organisms was able to degrade the short branched alkyl chain of p-tert-amylphenol. However, two yeast strains, two filamentous fungi, and two bacterial strains attacked the aromatic ring system of the disinfectant via the hydroxylated intermediate 4-(1,1-dimethyl-propyl)-benzene-1,2-diol resulting in two hitherto unknown ring fission products with pyran and furan structures, 4-(1,1-dimethyl-propyl)-6-oxo-6-H-pyran-2-carboxylic acid and 2-[3-(1,1-dimethyl-propyl)-5-oxo-2H-furan-2-yl]acetic acid. While the disinfectant was toxic to the organisms applied, one of the ring cleavage products was not. Thus, a detoxification of the disinfectant was achieved by ring cleavage. Furthermore, one filamentous fungus formed sugar conjugates with p-tert-amylphenol as another mechanism of detoxification of toxic environmental pollutants. With this work, we can also contribute to the allocation of unknown chemical compounds within environmental samples to their parent compounds.