• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.1273-1279
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• 2013

Aromatic hydrocarbons, such as phenol, have been detected frequently in wastewater, soil, and groundwater because of the extensive use of oil products. Bacterial strains (56 isolates) that degraded phenol were isolated from soil and industrial wastewater contaminated with hydrocarbons. GN13, which showed the best cell growth and phenol degradation, was selected for further analysis. The GN13 isolate was identified as Neisseria sp. based on the results of morphological, physiological, and biochemical taxonomic analyses and designated as Neisseria sp. GN13. The optimum temperature and pH for phenol removal of Neisseria sp. GN13 was $32^{\circ}C$ and 7.0, respectively. The highest cell growth occurred after cultivation for 30 hours in a jar fermentor using optimized medium containing 1,000 mg/l of phenol as the sole carbon source. Phenol was not detected after 27 hours of cultivation. Based on the analysis of catechol dioxygenase, it seemed that catechol was degraded through the meta- and ortho-cleavage pathway. Analysis of the biodegradation of phenol by Neisseria sp. GN13 in artificial wastewater containing phenol showed that the removal rate of phenol was 97% during incubation of 30 hours. The removal rate of total organic carbon (TOC) by Neisseria sp. GN13 and activated sludge was 83% and 78%, respectively. The COD removal rate by Neisseria sp. GN13 from petrochemical wastewater was about 1.3 times higher than that of a control containing only activated sludge.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.259-271
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• 2021

Many bacteria metabolize aromatic compounds via catechol as a catabolic intermediate, and possess multiple genes or clusters encoding catechol-cleavage enzymes. The presence of multiple isozyme-encoding genes is a widespread phenomenon that seems to give the carrying strains a selective advantage in the natural environment over those with only a single copy. In the naphthalene-degrading strain Pseudomonas putida ND6, catechol can be converted into intermediates of the tricarboxylic acid cycle via either the ortho- or meta-cleavage pathways. In this study, we demonstrated that the catechol ortho-cleavage pathway genes (catBICIAI and catBIICIIAII) on the chromosome play an important role. The catI and catII operons are co-transcribed, whereas catAI and catAII are under independent transcriptional regulation. We examined the binding of regulatory proteins to promoters. In the presence of cis-cis-muconate, a well-studied inducer of the cat gene cluster, CatRI and CatRII occupy an additional downstream site, designated as the activation binding site. Notably, CatRI binds to both the catI and catII promoters with high affinity, while CatRII binds weakly. This is likely caused by a T to G mutation in the G/T-N11-A motif. Specifically, we found that CatRI and CatRII regulate catBICIAI and catBIICIIAII in a cooperative manner, which provides new insights into naphthalene degradation.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.25-31
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• 2003

Delftia acidovorans 51-A isolated from river water degrades aniline. In order to clone genes involved in aniline degradation, transposon Tn5-B20 was inserted into the strain 51-A to generate a mutant strain 10-4-2 that cannot utilize aniline as a carbon source. The mutant strain was not an auxotroph but could not degrade aniline. Southern hybridization analysis indicated that the transposon was inserted into the mutant bacterial DNA as a single copy. Flanking DNA fragment of Tn5-B2O insertion was cloned and sequenced. DNA sequence analysis revealed three ORFs encoding TdnQ, TdnT, and TdnA 1 that arc responsible for catechol formation from aniline through oxidative deamination. The analysis also confirmed that Tn5-B2O was inserted at the immediate downstream of tdnA1. The result suggests that the transposon insertion behind tdirA1 disrupted the pathway of the catechol formation from aniline, resulting in the mutant phenotype, which cannot degrade aniline. A large plasmid over 100-kb in size was detected from D. acidovorans 51-A and Southern hybridization analysis with Tn5-B2O probe showed that the transposon was inserted on the plasmid named pTDN51. Our results indicated that the tdn genes on pTDN51 of D. acidovorans 51-A are involved in aniline degradation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.79-86
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• 2010

Effects of operating parameters such as applied voltage, solution conductivity, ferrous ion concentration, electrode material on phenol degradation by pulsed corona discharges were investigated in laboratory scale experiments. The increase of applied voltage enhanced the phenol degradation by generating more energetic electrons. The solution conductivity inversely affected phenol removal rate in the tested ranges because the increase of conductivity decreased the electric field strength through the liquid phase. The addition of ferrous sulfate promoted the phenol degradation through the OH radical production by the Fentonlike reactions between ferrous ion and hydrogen peroxide generated by pulsed corona discharges. Catechol and hydroquinone were detected as primary intermediates of phenol degradation and the decrease of pH and the increase of conductivity were observed probably due to the generation of organic acids. Almost all of the initial phenol was disappeared and 29% of total organic corbon (TOC) was removed in the condition of 0.5 mM of ferrous sulfate after approximately 230 kJ of discharge energy transferred to the reactor.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.330-337
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• 2018

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), including naphthalene, are widely distributed in nature. Naphthalene has been regarded as a model PAH compound for investigating the mechanisms of bacterial PAH biodegradation. Pseudomonas sp. AS1 isolated from an arseniccontaminated site is capable of growing on various aromatic compounds such as naphthalene, salicylate, and catechol, but not on gentisate. The genome of strain AS1 consists of a 6,126,864 bp circular chromosome and the 81,841 bp circular plasmid pAS1. Pseudomonas sp. AS1 has multiple dioxygenases and related enzymes involved in the degradation of aromatic compounds, which might contribute to the metabolic versatility of this isolate. The pAS1 plasmid exhibits extremely high similarity in size and sequences to the well-known naphthalene-degrading plasmid pDTG1 in Pseudomonas putida strain NCIB 9816-4. Two gene clusters involved in the naphthalene degradation pathway were identified on pAS1. The expression of several nah genes on the plasmid was upregulated by more than 2-fold when naphthalene was used as a sole carbon source. Strains have been isolated at different times and places with different characteristics, but similar genes involved in the degradation of aromatic compounds have been identified on their plasmids, which suggests that the transmissibility of the plasmids might play an important role in the adaptation of the microorganisms to mineralize the compounds.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.86-89
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• 2002

Rhodococcus sp. strain T104, which is able to grow on either biphenyl or limonene, was found to utilize phenol as sole carbon and energy sources. Furthermore, T104 was positively identified to possess three separate pathways for the degradation of limonene, phenol, and biphenyl. The fact that biphenyl and limonene induced almost the same amount of catechol 1,2-dioxygenase activity indicates that limonene can induce both upper and lower pathways for biphenyl degradation by T104.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.199-204
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• 1988

A strain capable of growth on naphthalene minimal medium was isolated from soil by selective enrichment culture and identified as Pseudomonas putida N3 according to its morphological and physiological characteristics. The optimum pH and temperature for growth of the isolate were 7.0 and 3$0^{\circ}C$, respectively. This strain was resistant to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, kanamycin and streptomycin but. sensitive to tetracycline and rifampicin. Of the naphthalene related compounds, 1, 5-dihydroxynaphthalene was more easily utilized than naphthalene due to its solubility. And catechol was degraded through meta-cleavage pathway. A 110 Kb plasmid which encodes for a single set of enzymes responsible for the degradation of naphthalene was obtained.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.141-148
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• 1997

Alcaligenes xylosoxydans strain SMN3 capable of utilizing biphenyl grew not only on phenol, and benzoate, but also on salicylate. Catabolisms of biphenyl and salicylate appear to be interrelated since benzoate is a common metabolic intermediate of these compounds. Enzyme levels in the excatechol 2. 3-dioxygenas which is meta-cleavage enzyme of catechol, but did not induce catechol 1, 2-dioxygenase. All the oxidative enzymes of biphenyl and 2, 3,-dihydroxybiphenyl (23DHBP) were induced when the cells were grown on biphenyl and salicylate, respectively. Biphenyl and salicylate could be a good inducer in the oxidation of biphenyl and 2, 3-dihydroxybiphenyl. The two enzymes for the degradation of biphenyl and salicylate were induced after growth on either biphenyl or salicylate, suggesting the presence of a common regulatory element. However, benzoate could not induce the enzymes responsible for the oxidation of these compounds. Biphenyl and salicylate were good inducers for indigo formation due to the activity of biphenyl dioxygenase. These results suggested that indole oxidation is a property of bacterial dioxygenase that form cis-dihydrodiols from aromatic hydrocarbon including biphenyl.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.408-415
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• 1991

TOL plsmid size of Flavobacterium odoratum SUB53 was estimated as 83 Md and the optimum concentration of m-toluate degradation by TOL plasmid was 5 mM. $H_{2}$ production by Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides KCTC1425 was largely dependent on nitrogenase activity and showed the highest at 30 mM malate with 7 mM glutamate as nitrogen source. Nitrogenase activities were inhibited by 0.3 mM $NH_{4}^{+}$ions, to be appeared the decrease of $H_{2}$ production. Conjugation of TOL plasmids from F. odoratum SUB53 and Pseudomonas putida mt-2 to R. sphaeroides showed the optimum at the exponential stage of recipient cells in presence of helper plasmid pRK2013. According to the investigation of catechol-1,2-oxygenase (C-1, 2-O) and catechol-2,3-oxygenase (C-2,3-O) activities of R. sphaeroides C1 (TOL SUB53) and C2 (TOL mt-2), the gene for C-2,3-O is located on TOL plasmid and gene for C-1, 2-O on the chromosome of R. sphaeroides. m-Toluate was biodegraded by TOL plasmid in R. sphaeroides C1 and C2, presumably to be produced $H_{2}$ gas from the secondary metabolites of m-toluate.e.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.102-108
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• 2003

A 6.1 kb Sph I fragment from the genomic DNA of Pseudomonas putida SM 25 was cloned into the veetor pUC19. The open reading frame of catB was found to consist of 1,122 nucleotides. The sequence alignment of the catB gene products from different kinds of bacteria revealed an overall identity ranging from 40 to 98%. The catC gene contained an open reading frame of 96 codons, from which a protein with a molecular mass of about 10.6 kDa was predicted. The amino acids in the proposed activesite region of CatC were found to be almost conserved, including the charged residues. Since the catBC genes in P. putida SM25 were tightly linked, the could be regulated under coordinate transcription, and transcribed from a single promoter located upstream of the catB gene, as in P. putida RBI.