2,4,6-trinitrotoluene biodegradation

Bumpus JA, M Tatarko (1994) Biodegradation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene by Phanerochaete chrysosporium identification of initial degradation products and the discovery of a metabolite that inhibits lignin peroxidases. Curr Microbiol 28 185-190. 

Explosives and related compounds have become widely recognized as serious environmental contaminants. Among the nitrosubstituted aromatic compounds causing particular concern are 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (picric acid), and many nitro- and/or amino-substituted aromatics that result from the manufacture and transformation of explosives. The threat posed by the presence of these compounds in soil and water is the result of their toxicity and is compounded by their recalcitrance to biodegradation. 

P.G. Rieger and H.-J. Knackmuss, Basic Knowledge and Perspectives on Biodegradation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene and Related Compounds in Contaminated Soil, In J. Spain (eds.), Biodegradation of Nitroaromatic compounds, Plenum Press, New York, 1995, pp. 1-18. 

Anaerobic Microflora Funk, Roberts, Cranford, and Crawford examined the bioremediation of soils contaminated with the munition compounds 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), hexahydro-l,3,5-trinitro-l,3,5-triazine, and octahydro-l,3,5,7-tetranitro-l,3,5,7-tetraacocine by a procedure that produced anaerobic conditions in the soils and promoted biodegradation of nitroaromatic contaminants. This procedure consisted of flooding the soils with 50 mM phosphate buffer, adding starch as a supplemental carbon substrate, and incubating under static conditions. Aerobic heterotrophs, present naturally in the soil or added as an inoculum, quickly removed the oxygen from the static cultures, creating anaerobic conditions. Removal of parent TNT molecules from the soil cultures by the strictly anaerobic microflora occurred within four days. 

Fernando T, Bumpus JA, and Aust SD, Biodegradation of TNT (2,4,6-trinitrotoluene) by Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 56, 1666, 1990. 

Rieger P-G and Knackmuss H-J, Basic knowledge and perspectives on biodegradation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene and related nitroaromatic compounds in contaminated soil, in Biodegradation of Nitroaromatic Compounds, Spain JC, Ed., Plenum Press, New York, 1995, 1. 

Nyanhongo GS, Schroeder M, Steiner W et al (2005) Biodegradation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) an enzymatic perspective. Biocatal Biotransform 23 1-17... 

Breitung J, Bruns-Nagel D, Steinbach K, Kaminski L, Gemsa D, von Low E (1996) Bioremediation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene-contaminated soils by two different aerated compost systems. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 44 795-800 Brodkorb TS, Legge RL (1992) Enhanced biodegradation of phenanthrene in oil-tar-contaminated soils supplied with Phanerochaete chrysosporium. Appl Environ Microbiol 58 3117-3121... 

BASIC KNOWLEDGE AND PERSPECTIVES ON BIODEGRADATION OF 2,4,6-TRINITROTOLUENE AND RELATED NITROAROMATIC COMPOUNDS IN CONTAMINATED SOIL... 

Fernando, T. and S. D. Aust. 1991. Biodegradation of munition waste, TNT (2,4,6-trinitrotoluene), and RDX (hexahydro-l,3,5-trinitro-l,3,5-triazine) by Phanerochaete chrysosporium, p. 214-232. In D.W. Tedder and F.G. Pohland (eds.). Emerging technologies in hazardous waste management II. American Chemistry Society, Washington, D.C. 

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