Microbial degradation chlorophenols

McBain, A., Cui, F., Herbert, L. Ruddick, J. N. R. (1995). The microbial degradation of chlorophenolic preservatives in spent, pressure-treated timber. Biodegradation, 6,47-55. 

As part of its operations between 1955 and 1977, a Finnish sawmill had been impregnating timber with a preservative to inhibit microbial degradation. This product, called Ky-5, contained a mixture of chlorophenols, namely, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (7-15%), 2,3,4,6-tetrachlorophenol ( 80%) and pentachlorophenol (6-10%). Ky-5 also contained traces of polychlorinated phenoxyphenols and dibenzo-p-dioxins as impurities. Over the years this product had contaminated the soils around the sawmill. A cost-effective bioremediation strategy was needed that could be used at this site but also throughout Finland where 800 other sites of this type existed. 

It has been shown that a combination of photolytic and biotic reactions can result in enhanced degradation of xenobiotics in municipal treatment systems, for example, of chlorophenols (Miller et al. 1988a) and benzo[a]pyrene (Miller et al. 1988b). Two examples illustrate the success of a combination of microbial and photochemical reactions in accomplishing the degradation of widely different xenobiotics in natural ecosystems. Both of them involved marine bacteria, and it therefore seems plausible to assume that such processes might be especially important in warm-water marine enviromnents. 

Miller RM, GM Singer, JD Rosen, R Bartha (1988a) Sequential degradation of chlorophenols by photolytic and microbial treatment. Environ Sci Technol 22 1215-1219. 

Haggblom MM, RJ Valo (1995) Bioremedation of chlorophenol wastes. In Microbial Transformation and Degradation of Toxic Organic Chemicals (Eds LY Young and CE Cerniglia), pp. 389-434. Wiley-Liss, New York, USA. 

Dec, J. Bollag, J.M. (1988). Microbial release and degradation of catechol and chlorophenols bound to synthetic humic acid. Soil Science Society of American Journal, 52(5), 1366-71. 

Microbial Metabolism. Although chlorophenols have been used as antifungal or antimicrobial agents, they are known to be detoxified and degraded by microorganisms such as fungi. Several factors control the metabolism of chlorophenols. 

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