Biomaterial Database

Degradation of polychlorinated biphenyls by mixed microbial cultures. 1979

R R Clark, and E S Chian, and R A Griffin

Three different enriched mixed cultures capable of degrading polychlorinated biphenylas were isolated from two soil samples and a river sediment, respectively. The predominant organisms found in all three mixed cultures were Alcaligenes odorans, Alcaligenes dentrificans, and an unidentified bacterium. The polychlorinated biphenyl isomers that were more water soluble and had lower chlorination were not only degraded at a faster rate than those that were less water soluble and had higher chlorination, but were also more completely utilized by these mixed cultures. This resulted in the presence in the environment of polychlorinated biphenyl residues consisting mainly of higher-chlorinated isomers. A form of cometabolism of polychlorinated biphenyls was also found with these cultures in the presence of acetate as the cosubstrate.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D011078	Polychlorinated Biphenyls	Industrial products consisting of a mixture of chlorinated biphenyl congeners and isomers. These compounds are highly lipophilic and tend to accumulate in fat stores of animals. Many of these compounds are considered toxic and potential environmental pollutants.	PCBs,Polychlorinated Biphenyl,Polychlorobiphenyl Compounds,Biphenyl, Polychlorinated,Biphenyls, Polychlorinated,Compounds, Polychlorobiphenyl
D000085	Acetates	Derivatives of ACETIC ACID. Included under this heading are a broad variety of acid forms, salts, esters, and amides that contain the carboxymethane structure.	Acetate,Acetic Acid Esters,Acetic Acids,Acids, Acetic,Esters, Acetic Acid
D000421	Alcaligenes	A genus of gram-negative, aerobic, motile bacteria that occur in water and soil. Some are common inhabitants of the intestinal tract of vertebrates. These bacteria occasionally cause opportunistic infections in humans.
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
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
D012988	Soil Microbiology	The presence of bacteria, viruses, and fungi in the soil. This term is not restricted to pathogenic organisms.	Microbiology, Soil
D012995	Solubility	The ability of a substance to be dissolved, i.e. to form a solution with another substance. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)	Solubilities
D013237	Stereoisomerism	The phenomenon whereby compounds whose molecules have the same number and kind of atoms and the same atomic arrangement, but differ in their spatial relationships. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 5th ed)	Molecular Stereochemistry,Stereoisomers,Stereochemistry, Molecular,Stereoisomer