Substrate, microbial degradation

The microbial degradation of contaminants under anaerobic conditions using humic acids as electron acceptors has been demonstrated. These included the oxidations (a) chloroethene and 1,2-dichloroethene to CO2 that was confirmed using C-labeled substrates (Bradley et al. 1998) and (b) toluene to CO2 with AQDS or humic acid as electron acceptors (Cervantes et al. 2001). The transformation of l,3,5-trinitro-l,3,5-triazine was accomplished using Geobacter metallireducens and humic material with AQDS as electron shuttle (Kwon and Finneran 2006). 

Hommel RK (1994) Formation and function of biosurfactants for degradation of water-insoluble substrates. In Biochemistry of Microbial Degradation (Ed C Rattledge), pp. 63-87. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. 

The application of substrates isotopically labeled in specific positions makes it possible to follow the fate of individual atoms during the microbial degradation of xenobiotics. Under optimal conditions, both the kinetics of the degradation, and the formation of metabolites may be followed— ideally when samples of the labeled metabolites are available. Many of the classical studies on the microbial metabolism of carbohydrates, carboxylic acids, and amino acids used radioactive... 

Traps with Bio-Sep beads amended with [ Cg]-benzene and [ C]-toluene were used to assess biodegradation in an aquifer (Geyer et al. 2005). Beads were lyophilized after exposure, lipids were extracted with chloroform-methanol, and the fatty acids and values analyzed. High enrichment of was observed in several fatty acids, which showed that the label from the substrates had been incorporated. In addition, there were differences in the abundance of the fatty acids in beads amended with benzene or toluene that suggested the existence of different microbial degradative populations. 

In soil, the chances that any enzyme will retain its activity are very slim indeed, because inactivation can occur by denaturation, microbial degradation, and sorption (61,62), although it is possible that sorption may protect an enzyme from microbial degradation or chemical hydrolysis and retain its activity. The nature of most enzymes, particularly size and charge characteristics, is such that they would have very low mobility in soils, so that if a secreted enzyme is to have any effect, it must operate close to the point of secretion and its substrate must be able to diffuse to the enzyme. Secretory acid phosphatase was found to be produced in response to P-deficiency stress by epidermal cells of the main tap roots of white lupin and in the cell walls and intercellular spaces of lateral roots (63). Such apoplastic phosphatase is safe from soil but can be effective only when presented with soluble organophosphates, which are often present in the soil. solution (64). However, because the phosphatase activity in the rhizo-sphere originates from a number of sources (65), mostly microbial, and is much higher in the rhizosphere than in bulk soil (66), it seems curious that plants would have a need to secrete phosphatase at all. 

Volkering, F., Breure, A. M., Sterkenburg, A. and van Andel, J. G. (1992). Microbial degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons effect of substrate availability on bacterial growth kinetics, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 36, 548-552. 

TCE is the other major contaminant at the site and is a common groundwater contaminant in aquifers throughout the United States [425]. Since TCE is a suspected carcinogen, the fate and transport of TCE in the environment and its microbial degradation have been extensively studied [25,63, 95,268,426,427]. Reductive dechlorination under anaerobic conditions and aerobic co-metabolic processes are the predominant pathways for TCE transformation. In aerobic co-metabolic processes, oxidation of TCE is catalyzed by the enzymes induced and expressed for the initial oxidation of the growth substrates [25, 63, 268, 426]. Several growth substrates such as methane, propane, butane, phenol, and toluene have been shown to induce oxygenase enzymes which co-metabolize TCE [428]. 

Table 17.7 Apparent Michaelis-Menten Parameters Reported for Microbial Degradation of Various Substrates...

The sol-gel procedure enables encapsulation of enzymes in optically transparent, porous silicate matrices, under mild room-temperature conditions. The small pores prevent microbial degradation and, due to the biomolecule size, they will not diffuse out of the polymer network. The physical encapsulation avoids self-aggregation effects as well as protein unfolding and denaturalization. At the same time, the catalytic activity is maintained as the enzymes are able to react with small substrates that can transfer across or within the support, assuring continuous transformations [75]. 

The rate of cadaver decomposition in soil can be affected by how often a particular site is subjected to cadaveric material. Microbial degradation is typically described as having three phases. The initial lag phase is defined by microbial or enzymatic enrichment. During the second phase the substrate is rapidly degraded. This is followed by a declining phase that results from a lack of readily available substrate or formation of humic substances (Ajwa and Tabatabai 1994). Forensic taphonomy holds that the burial of a number of cadavers in soil over time will result in an increased number of soil microorganisms (Janaway 1996). Experiments using controlled burial environment... 

Mineral nutrient limitation of microbial degradation has been put forward as an explanation for accumulation of carbon-rich DOM after a Phae-ocystis bloom (Thingstad and Billen 1994). The increase in carbohydrate/POC due to overflow metabolism will give rise to a substrate with a C/P and C/N ratio that is unfavorable to bacteria. Since the C/P ratio of bacteria may be considerably lower than that of phytoplankton (Vadstein et al. 1988), especially phosphate limitation may hamper microbial degradation (Thingstad et al. 

Cosolvents that organisms may use as substrates could increase the microbial degradation of the pollutant if the concentration has not reached toxic levels. 

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