• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.61-66
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• 2001

The aim of this study was to examine how plant terpenoids, as natural growth substrates or inducers, would affect the biodegradation of PCB congeners. Various PCB degraders that could grow on biphenyl and several terpenoids were tested for their PCB degradation capabilities. Degradation activities of the PCB congeners, 4,4-dichlorobiphenyl (4,4-DCBp) and 2,2-dichlorobiphenyl (2,2-DCBp), were initially monitored through a resting cell assay technique that could detect their degradation products. The PCB degraders, Pseudomonas ((S)-(-) limonene, p-cymene and $\alpha$-terpinene) whereas Arthrobacter sp. B1B could not grow on the terpenoids as a sole carbon source. The B1B strain grown on biphenyl exhibited good degradation activity for 4,4-DCBp and 2,2-DCBp, while the activity of strains P166 and T104 was about 25% that of the B1B strain, respectively. Concomitant GC analysis, however, demonstrated that strain T104, grown on (S)-(-) limonene, p-cymene and $\alpha$-terpinene, could degrade 4,4-DCBp up to 30%, equivalent to 50% of the biphenyl induction level. Moreover, strain T104 grown on (S)-(-) limonene, could also degrade 2,2-DCBp up to 30%. This indicates that terpenoids, widely distributed in nature, could be utilized as both growth and/or inducer substrate(s) for PCB biodegradation in the environment.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.120-123
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• 2001

Sphingomonas chungbukensis DJ77 is able to use phenanthrene and biphenyl as the sole carbon and energy source. Mitomycin C curing experiment suggested that polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) utilization in strain DJ77 was plasmid-encoded. The plasmid cured strains were failed to grow on the minimal medium sprayed with biphenyl or phenanthrene. This was evident from southern hybridizations using a previously cloned DNA segment as a probe. There were positive signals in the palsmid DNA of the wild-type strain DJ77 and the absence of hybridizations with chromosomal DNA from the plasmid DNA of the wild-type strain DJ77 and the absence of hybridizations with chromosomal DNA from the palsmid-cured mutant strains.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.245-245
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• 2002

Catabolic pathways for the degradation of various aromatics by Sphingomonas yanoikuyae Bl are intertwined, joining at the level of substituted benzoates, which are further degraded vita ring cleavage reactions. The mutant strain EK497, which was constructed by deleting a large DNA region containing most of the genes for biphenyl, naphthalene, m-xylene, and m-toluate degradation, was unable to grow on all of the aromatics tested except for benzoate as the sole source of carbon and energy.S. yanoikuyae EK497 was found to possess only catechol ortho-ring cleavage activity due to deletion of the genes for the meta-cleavage pathway. Wild-type S. yanoikuyae Bl grown on benzoate has both catechol orthoand meta-cleavage activity. However, m-xylene and m-toluate, which are metabolized through methylbenzoate, and biphenyl, which is metabolized through benzoate, induce only the meta-cleavage pathway, suggesting the presence of a substrate-dependent induction mechanism.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.68-73
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• 1995

Pseudomonas sp. P20 was shown to be capable of degrading biphenyl and 4-chlorobiphenyl (4CB) to produce the corresponding benzoic acids wnich were not further degraded. But the potential of the strain for biodegradation of 4CB was shown to be excellent. The pcbA, B, C and D genes responsible for the aromatic ring-cleavage of biphenyl and 4CB degradation were cloned from the chromosomal DNA of the strain. In this study, the pebC and D genes specifying degradation of 2, 3-dihydroxybiphenyl (2, 3-DHBP) produced from biphenyl by the pebAB-encoded enzymes were cloned by using pBluescript SK(＋) as a vector. From the pCK102 (9.3 kb) containing pebC and D genes, pCK1022 inserted with a EcoRI-HindIII DNA fragment (4.1 kb) carrying pebC and D and a pCK1092 inserted with EcoRI-XbaI fragment (1.95 kb) carrying pebC were constructed. The expression of pcbC and D' in E. coli CK102 and pebC in E. coli CK1092 was examined by gas chromatography and UV-vis spectrophotometry. 2.3-dihydroxybiphenyl was readily degraded to produce meta-cleavage product (MCP) by E. coli CK102 after incubation for 10 min, and then only benzoic acid(BA) was detected in the 24-h old culture. The MCP was detected in E. coli CK1022 containing pebC and 0 genes (by the resting cells assay) for up to 3 h after incubation and then diminished completely in 8 h, whereas the MCP accumulated in the E. coli CK1092 culture even after 6 h of incubation. The 2, 3-DHBP dioxygenases (product of pebC gene) produced by E. coli CK1, CK102, CK1023, and CK1092 strains were measured by native PAGE analysis to be about 250 kDa in molecular weight, which were about same as those of Pseudomonas sp. DJ-12, P. pseudoa1caligenes KF707, and P. putida OU83.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2016

As of many organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls are ubiquitous organic contaminants, which can be found in the most environmental matrices. Their toxic effects include endocrinedisrupting activity. Most researches with these toxicants performed with mixtures of congeners, namely Aroclor and related study has been done in complex environmental matrix, rather than single biosystems or pure congeners. 5 congeners were synthesized and their fates in pure microbial culture (Aspergillus niger) were determined in this study. Among biphenyl and synthetic congeners, biphenyl, PCB-1 (2-chlorobiphenyl), and PCB-3 (4-chlorobiphenyl) were rapidly transformed to hydrophilic metabolites, followed by PCB-38 (3,4,5-trichlorobiphenyl), while the degradation of PCB-126 (3,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl) was not observed. The amounts of transformation for biphenyl, PCB-1, PCB-3, and PCB-38 were 65, 38, 52, and 2% respectively. The major metabolites of the above congeners were identified as mono- and di-hydroxy biphenyls, which are known to give adverse endocrinological effects.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.203-210
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• 2016

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are ubiquitous environmental contaminants, found in the many environments. PCBs exerts various toxicological effects, including endocrine-disrupting activity. Most researches with these toxicants performed with soil matrix with mixtures of congeners, namely Aroclor, while the biological activities have been tested with animals. However, studies with pure congeners are limited. In this study, 5 congeners were synthesized and their fates (bioaccumulation, degradation, kinetics) were studied in carrot-soil system. The soil half-lives of biphenyl, PCB-1, PCB-3, PCB-77, and PCB-126 were 20.2, 16.0, 11.6, 46.5, 198.0 days, respectively. In general, the longer half-lives were observed with the higher hydrophoicity of PCBs. Times, required for maxium accumulation of PCBs in carrot (Tmax) were 10-20 days for most congeners and the concentrations were 0.4-2.6 mg/kg. The concentrations of PCBs in carrot were kept as constant after Tmax, except PCB-126. The concentration ratio between carrot and soil after 90 days of treatment were 1.7, 8.1, 1.9, 1.8, and 5.9 for biphenyl, PCB-1, PCB-3, PCB-77, and PCB-126. Because of the increase of biomass, the total residual amount of PCBs in carrots however, increased till the end of experiment. The portions of PCB-126 in carrot were 1.1% of the soil residues at 90 days after planting.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.463-468
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• 2003

Polychlorinated biphenyl are toxic pollutants and their degradation is quite slow in the environment. Recently, interest if bioremediation using PCB-degrading bacteria has increaset,. In a previous report, plant terpenes (p-cymene, (S)-(-)-limonene, ${\alpha}-pynene$, and ${\alpha}-terpinene$) have been found to be utilized by a PCB degrader and to induce the biphenyl dioxygenase gene in pure culture. In this study, Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes KF707, a PCB-degrading Gram-negative soil bacterium, was used to determine whether the terpene stimulation of PCB degrader occurred in the natural environment. First, P. pseudoalcaligenes KF707 was genetically tagged using a transposon with gfp (green fluorescent protein) as a reporter gone. The population dynamics of P. pseudoalcaligenes KF707 harboring gfp gene in a PCB-contaminated environment was examined with or without terpenoids added to the microcosm. About 10-100-fold increase was found in the population of PCB degraders when terpene was added, compared with control (non-terpenes samples and biphenyl added samples). It was proposed that the gfp-monitoring system is very useful and terpenes enhance the survivability of PCB degraders in PCB-contaminated environments.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.763-771
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• 2001

Biphenyl dioxygenase (BPDO), which catalyzes the first step in the bacterial degradation of biphenyl and polychlorinated biphenyls, was characterized in Pseudomonas sp. B4. The bphA locus containing the four structural genes encoding BPDO were cloned and sequenced. A regulatory gene as well as a putative regulatory sequence were identified upstream of this locus. A transposase-like gene was found within a 1-kb region further upstream, thereby suggesting that the bphA locus may be carried on a transposable element. The three components of the BPDO enzyme have been separately overexpressed and purified from E. coli. The ferredoxin and terminal dioxygenase components showed biochemical properties comparable to those of two previously characterized BPDOs, whereas the ferredoxin reductase exhibited an unusually high lability. The substrate selectivity of BPDO was examined in vivo using resting cell assays performed with mixtures of selected polychlorinated biphenyls. The results indicated that para-substituted congeners were the preferred substrates. In vitro studies were carried out on a BPDO complex where the reductase from strain B4 we replaced by the more stable isoform from Comamonas testosteroni B-356. The BPDO enzyme had a specific activity of $0.26{\pm}0.02 {\mu}mol {min^-1}{mg^-1}\;of\;ISP_{BPH}$ with biphenyl as the substrate. The 2,3-, 4,4'-, and 2,4,4'-chlorobiphenyls were converted to single dihydrodiols, while 2,4'-dichlorobiphenyl gave rise to two dihydrodiols. The current data also indicated that 2,4,4'-trichlorobiphenyl was a better substrate than the 4,4'-dichlorinated congener.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.40-46
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• 1994

The pcb genes of Pseudomonas sp. DJ-12 coded for the catabolism of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) and biphenyl. The products of the pcbCD genes were 2,3-dihydroxy-4'-chlorobiphenyl dioxygenase and meta-cleavage product (MCP) hydrolase, which acted on degradation of 2,3-dihydroxy-4'-chlorobiphenyl to 4-chlorobenzoate. The pcbCD genes were cloned in E. coli XLl-Blue, and then the pcbD gene was further subcloned. As a metabolite transformed from 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl by the cloned cell of E coli CU103, benzoate was detected by the resting cell assay. The enzyme activities of 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl dioxygease and MCP hydrolase produced in the cloned cells E. coli CU103 and CU105 were about 17 and 3 times higher than those of Pseudomonas sp. DJ-12, respectively.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 1994

The homology among the genes coding for degradation of bipheny(BP) and 4-chlorobiphenyl(4CB) was comparatively analyzed by Southern hybridization in several BP/4CB degrading bacterial strains. As the hybridization results of their genomic DNAs with pcbABCD as the DNA probe, the group of Pseudomonas sp. DJ-12. P08 and P27 strain was separated by the group of P20 and P1242 strains. The P. pseudoalcaligenes KF707 showed the hybidization signal which was homologous to the group of DJ-12, but they had different restriction endonuclease sites. The pcbAB genes in pCUl recombinant plasmid from Pseudomonas sp. DJ-12 appeared to be homologous to pchAB genes in pKTF20 cloned from P. pseudoalcaligenes KF707, but the C genes in both strains were not homologous. The bphABC in pKTF20 showed the signals homologous to the cbp ACB in pAW6194 cloned from P. putida OU83, but homologous signal was not found botween the pcbABCD genes in pCUl and the cbpADCB genes in pAW6194 recombbinant plasmid.