• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.299-306
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• 1991

When $[U-^{14}C]$ 3,3', 4,4'-tetrachloroazobenzene$([U-^{14}C]\;TCAB)$ was added to the $MM_2$ medium as a sole carbon source for the isolated microorganisms and incubated, some radioactive metabolites were detected by autoradiography. No $^{14}CO_2$ was evolved from $[U-^{14}C]\;TCAB$ which was added as a sole carbon source to an organic matter-free soil inoculated by the isolates, wetted with the $MM_2$ salt medium, and incubated at $30^{\circ}C$. One of the metabolites in pure culture of Achromobacter group VD, which was isolated and identified, was tentatively identified as a compound of m/z 250 by means of GC/MS. The possible pathways for its formation are thought to include dechlorination from the TCAB structure, hydroxylation, ortho fission of the two benzene rings, and reduction of the resulting carboxyl group.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.804-810
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• 1999

There is a possibility that carvone, a monoterpene from spearmint (Mentha spicata), could induce the bph degradative pathway and genes in Alcaligenes eutrophus H850, which is a known Gram-negative PCB degrader with a broad substrate specificity that was thoroughly investigated with Arthrobacter sp. BIB, a Gram-positive PCB degrader. The strains BIB and H850 were unable to utilize and grow on the plant terpene [(R)-(-)-carvone] (50ppm) to be recognized as a sole carbon source. Nevertheless, the carvone did induce 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl 1,2-dioxygenase (encoded by bphC) in the strain B lB, as observed by a resting cell assay that monitors accumulation of a yellow meta ring fission product from 4,4'-dichlorobiphenyl (DCBp). The monoterpene, however, did not appear to induce the meta cleavage pathway in the strain H850. Instead, an assumption was made that the strain might be using an alternative pathway, probably the ortho-cleavage pathway. A reverse transcription (RT)-PCR system, utilizing primers designed from a conserved region of the bphC gene of Arthrobacter sp. M5, was employed to verify the occurrence of the alternative pathway. A successful amplification (182bp) of mRNA transcribed from the N-terminal region of the bphC gene was accomplished in H850 cells induced by carvone (50ppm) as well as in biphenyl-growth cells. It is, therefore, likely that H850 possesses a specific PCB degradation pathway and hence a different substrate specificity compared with B1B. This study will contribute to an elucidation of the dynamic aspects of PCB bioremediation in terms of roles played by PCB degraders and plant terpenes as natural inducer substrates that are ubiquitous and environmentally compatible.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.643-650
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• 2000

A new aniline-utilizing microorganism, strain HY1 obtained from an orchard soil, was characterized by using the BIOLOG system, an analysis of the total cellular fatty acids, and a 16S rDNA sequence. Strain HY1 was identified as a Burkholderia species, and was designated Burkholderia sp. HY1. GC and HPLC analyses revealed that Burkholderia sp. HY1 was able to degrade aniline to produce catechol, which was subsequently converted to cis,cis-muconic acid through an ortho-ring fission pathway under aerobic conditions. Strain HY1 exhibited a drastic reduction in the rate of aniline degradation when glucose was added to the aniline media. However, the addition of peptone or nitrate to the aniline media dramatically accelerated the rate of aniline degradation. A fatty acid analysis showed that strain HY1 was able to produce lipids 16:0 2OH, and 11 methyl 18:1 ${\omega}7c$ approximately 3.7-, 2.2-, and 6-fold more, respectively, when grown on aniline media than when grown on TSA. An analysison the alignment of a 1,435 bp fragment. A phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rDNA sequence based on a 1,420 bp multi-alignment sowed of the 16s rDNA sequence revealed that strain HY1 was very closely related to Burkholderia graminis with 95% similarity based that strain HY1 was placed among three major clonal types of $\beta$-Proteobacteria, including Burkholderia graminis, Burkholderia phenazinium, and Burkholderia glathei. The sequence GAT(C or G)${\b{G}}$, which is highly conserved in several locations in the 16S rDNA gene among the major clonal type strains of $\beta$-Proteobacteria, was frequently replaced with GAT(C or G)${\b{A}}$ in the 16S rDNA sequence from strain HY1.