Isolation and characterization of a Rhodococcus strain able to degrade 2-fluoro...

• Author(s): Duque, Anouk F. ; Hasan, Syed A. ; Bessa, Vânia S. ; Carvalho, Maria F. ; Samin, Ghufrana ; Janssen, Dick B. ; Castro, Paula M. L.
• Date: 2012
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/7480
• Origin: Veritati - Repositório Institucional da Universidade Católica Portuguesa
• Subject(s): 2-Fluorophenol (2-FP); Rhodococcus sp.; Biodegradation; Luong model; Monooxygenase
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

A pure bacterial culture able to utilize 2- fluorophenol (2-FP) as sole carbon and energy source was isolated by selective enrichment from sediments collected from a contaminated site in Northern Portugal. 16S rRNA gene analysis showed that the organism (strain FP1) belongs to the genus Rhodococcus. When grown aerobically on 2-FP, growth kinetics of strain FP1 followed the Luong model. An inhibitory effect of increasing 2-FP concentrations was observed with no growth occurring at 2- FP levels higher than ca. 4 mM. Rhodococcus strain FP1 was able to degrade a range of other organofluorine compounds, including 2-fluorobenzoate, 3-fluorobenzoate, 4-fluorobenzoate, 3-fluorophenol, 4-fluorophenol, 3-fluorocatechol, and 4-fluorocatechol, as well as chlorinated compounds such as 2-chlorophenol and 4-chlorophenol. Experiments with cell-free extracts and partially purified enzymes indicated that the first step of 2-fluorophenol metabolism was conversion to 3-fluorocatechol, suggesting an unusual pathway for fluoroaromatic metabolism. To our knowledge, this is the first time that utilization of 2-FP as a growth substrate by a pure bacterial culture is reported.