Microbial degradation halogenated aromatics

Reinke, W., Microbial degradation of halogenated aromatic compounds, in Microbial Degradation of Organic Compounds, Gibson, D.T., Ed., Marcel Dekker, New York, 1984, pp. 319-360. 

Chapman, P.J. (1987). Constructing microbial strains for degradation of halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons. In Environmental Biotechnology, Reducing Risks from Environmental Chemicals Through Biotechnology, ed. G. S. Omenn, pp. 81-95. New York Plenum Press. 

Sahrn, H., Brunner, M. Schobert, S.M. (1986) Anaerobic degradation of halogenated aromatic compounds. Microbial Ecol. 12., 147-153... 

Thus the microbial activity is chiefly responsible for the mineralization of halogenated compounds, which enter into a variety of natural habitats. The toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic effects of various chlorinated compoxmds make studies of these compounds at various levels, extremely important. As excellent recent reviews on the microbial degradation of halogenated aromatics are available [5-8], a brief description of tiie degradation of some important chloroaromatics, with available enzymological studies, will be presented. 

Enrichment culture techniques can also be used for bioremediation to detoxify xenobiotic pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heterocyclic polyaromatics, and halogenated aromatics in soils and sediments through microbial degradation. An effective way to do this is by isolating microbes through enrichment cultures with the substrate one wants to detoxify as a limiting compound. Once this is proven in the laboratory, it can be taken full-scale to the field. 

Halogenated heterocyclic aromatic con imds are widely used for the production of pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and dyes, but much less is known regarding their metabolism by microorganisms con ared with their homocyclic analogs. 3,5,6-Trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP) is a major metabolite of the insecticide chlorpyrifos and herbicide triclopyr. It has been detected in environments where chlorpyrifos and triclopyr were previously applied (1-6). TCP can be mineralized in soil, and its half-life varies with soil type, ranging from 10 to 325 days (5, 7). The mineralization of TCP in soil is microbially mediated, but isolation of the degradative microorganisms has rarely been atten ted. 

---