Biomaterial Database

Diversity and correlation of specific aromatic hydrocarbon biodegradation capabilities. 1999

N Gülensoy, and P J Alvarez

University of Iowa, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Iowa City 52242-1527, USA.

This work investigated the biodegradation capabilities of indigenous microorganisms exposed to different combinations of aromatic hydrocarbons. Considerable diversity was found in the catabolic specificity of 55 strains. Toluene was the most commonly degraded compound, followed by p-xylene, m-xylene and ethylbenzene. Strains capable of degrading o-xylene and benzene, which were the least-frequently-degraded compounds, exhibited broader biodegradation capabilities. Kappa statistics showed a significant correlation between the abilities to degrade toluene and ethylbenzene, p-xylene and m-xylene, and p-xylene and o-xylene. The ability to degrade naphthalene was correlated to the ability to degrade other alkylbenzenes, but not benzene. In addition, the inability to degrade benzene was correlated to the inability to degrade o-xylene. Factorial analysis of variance showed that biodegradation capabilities were generally broader when aromatic hydrocarbons were fed as mixtures than when fed separately. Beneficial substrate interactions included enhanced degradation of benzene, p-xylene, and naphthalene when toluene was present, and enhanced degradation of naphthalene by ethylbenzene. Such heuristic relationships may be useful to predict biodegradation patterns when bacteria are exposed to different aromatic hydrocarbon mixtures.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D009281	Naphthalenes	Two-ring crystalline hydrocarbons isolated from coal tar. They are used as intermediates in chemical synthesis, as insect repellents, fungicides, lubricants, preservatives, and, formerly, as topical antiseptics.
D011549	Pseudomonas	A genus of gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped bacteria widely distributed in nature. Some species are pathogenic for humans, animals, and plants.	Chryseomonas,Pseudomona,Flavimonas
D011550	Pseudomonas aeruginosa	A species of gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped bacteria commonly isolated from clinical specimens (wound, burn, and urinary tract infections). It is also found widely distributed in soil and water. P. aeruginosa is a major agent of nosocomial infection.	Bacillus aeruginosus,Bacillus pyocyaneus,Bacterium aeruginosum,Bacterium pyocyaneum,Micrococcus pyocyaneus,Pseudomonas polycolor,Pseudomonas pyocyanea
D006841	Hydrocarbons, Aromatic	Organic compounds containing carbon and hydrogen in the form of an unsaturated, usually hexagonal ring structure. The compounds can be single ring, or double, triple, or multiple fused rings.	Aromatic Hydrocarbon,Aromatic Hydrocarbons,Hydrocarbon, Aromatic
D001419	Bacteria	One of the three domains of life (the others being Eukarya and ARCHAEA), also called Eubacteria. They are unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms which generally possess rigid cell walls, multiply by cell division, and exhibit three principal forms: round or coccal, rodlike or bacillary, and spiral or spirochetal. Bacteria can be classified by their response to OXYGEN: aerobic, anaerobic, or facultatively anaerobic; by the mode by which they obtain their energy: chemotrophy (via chemical reaction) or PHOTOTROPHY (via light reaction); for chemotrophs by their source of chemical energy: CHEMOLITHOTROPHY (from inorganic compounds) or chemoorganotrophy (from organic compounds); and by their source for CARBON; NITROGEN; etc.; HETEROTROPHY (from organic sources) or AUTOTROPHY (from CARBON DIOXIDE). They can also be classified by whether or not they stain (based on the structure of their CELL WALLS) with CRYSTAL VIOLET dye: gram-negative or gram-positive.	Eubacteria
D001554	Benzene	Toxic, volatile, flammable liquid hydrocarbon byproduct of coal distillation. It is used as an industrial solvent in paints, varnishes, lacquer thinners, gasoline, etc. Benzene causes central nervous system damage acutely and bone marrow damage chronically and is carcinogenic. It was formerly used as parasiticide.	Benzol,Benzole,Cyclohexatriene
D001555	Benzene Derivatives	Organic compounds derived from BENZENE.	Derivatives, Benzene
D001673	Biodegradation, Environmental	Elimination of ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS; PESTICIDES and other waste using living organisms, usually involving intervention of environmental or sanitation engineers.	Bioremediation,Phytoremediation,Natural Attenuation, Pollution,Environmental Biodegradation,Pollution Natural Attenuation
D014050	Toluene	A widely used industrial solvent.
D014992	Xylenes	A family of isomeric, colorless aromatic hydrocarbon liquids, that contain the general formula C6H4(CH3)2. They are produced by the destructive distillation of coal or by the catalytic reforming of petroleum naphthenic fractions. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 5th ed)	Dimethylbenzenes,Xylene