Metabolism of nitrophenols by bacteria isolated from parathion-amended flooded soil

✍ Scribed by Sudhakar-Barik; R. Siddaramappa; N. Sethunathan

• Book ID: 104762491
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1976
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 527 KB
• Volume: 42
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0003-6072
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00410177

✦ Synopsis

SUDHAKAR-BARIK, SIDDARAMAPPA, R. and SETHUNATHAN, N. 1976. Metabolism of nitrophenols by bacteria isolated from parathion-amended flooded soil. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 42: 461-470.

Two bacterial isolates from parathion-amended flooded soil, Pseudomonas sp. and Bacillus sp., were examined for their ability to decompose nitrophenols. Uniformly labelled 14C-p-nitrophenol was metabolized by both bacteria, 14CO2 and nitrite being end products. A substantial portion (23% for Pseudomonas sp. and 80% for Bacillus sp.) of radioactivity applied as p-nitrophenol was accounted for as 14CO1 at the end of a 72-h period; 8 to 16% remained in the water phase after solvent extraction. Pseudomonas sp. produced nitrite also from 2,4-dinitrophenol, but only after a lag, and not from o-and m-nitrophenols. Interestingly, m-nitrophenol, known for its resistance to biodegradation because of meta substitution, was decomposed by Bacillus sp., resulting in the formation of nitrite and phenol; o-nitrophenol and 2,4-dinitrophenol resisted degradation by this bacterium.