Abstract
A screening assay in which dibenzothiophene (DBT) or DBT-sulfone served as the only bioavailable source of sulfur was used to obtain two new bacterial isolates, strains UM9 and UM3, that desulfurized either substrate. Strain UM9 produced the desulfurized product, 2-hydroxybiphenyl (HBP); no other identifiable desulfurized products or released sulfate or sulfite were detected. Biodesulfurization activity occurred only for growing cultures and was depressed by free sulfate. Neither isolate grew on DBT, DBT-sulfone, or HBP as sole carbon sources. Under optimized conditions of pH and temperature, strain UM9 exhibited up to 35% greater biodesulfurization of DBT-sulfone than did UM3, and both isolates also desulfurized several other organic-sulfur compounds. The kinetics and characteristics of biodesulfurization by either UM3 or UM9, tentatively identified as species ofRhodococcus, indicated mechanisms different from those reported in the literature for other bacteria.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Amy PS, Haldeman DL, Ringelberg D, Hall DH, Russell C (1992) Comparison of identification systems for classification of bacteria isolated from water and endolithic habitats within the deep subsurface. Appl Environ Microbiol 58:3367–3373
Guirard BV, Snell EE (1981) Biochemical factors in growth. In: Gerhardt G (ed) Manual of methods for general bacteriology. Washington, DC: American Society for Microbiology, pp 79–111
Isbister JD, Kobylnski EA (1985) Microbial desulfurization of coal. In: Attia YL (ed) Processing and utilization of high sulfur coal. Coal Science and Technology, Vol 9 Amsterdam: Elsevier, p 627
Kilbane JJ (1990) Sulfur specific microbial metabolism of organic compounds. Resources, Conser, Recycling 3:69–79
Knecht AT Jr (1961) Microbial oxidation of dibenzothiophene and its possible application in the desulfurization of coal and petroleum. Ph.D. dissertation. Baton Rouge Louisiana State University
Kodama K, Umehara K, Shimizu K, Nakatani S, Minoda Y, Yamada K (1973) Identification of microbial products from dibenzothiophene and its proposed oxidation pathway. Agric Biol Chem 37:45–50
Krawiec S (1990) Bacterial desulfurization of thiophenes. Dev Indust Microbiol 31:103–114
Laborde AL, gibson DT (1977) Metabolism of dibenzothiophene by aBeijerinckia species. Appl Environ Microbiol 34:783–790
Monticello DJ, Bakker D, Finnerty WR (1985) Plasmid-mediated degradation of dibenzothiophene byPseudomonas species. Appl environ Microbiol 49:756–760
Mormile MR, Atlas RM (1988) Mineralization of the dibenzothiophene biodegradation products 3-hydroxy-2-formyl benzothiophene and dibenzothiophene sulfone. Appl Environ Microbiol 54:3183–3184
Omari T, Monna L, Saiki Y, Kodama T (1992) Desulfurization of dibenzothiophene byCorynebacterium sp. strain SY1. Appl Environ Microbiol 58:911–915
Purdy RF, Ward B, Lepo JE (1991) Microbial extraction of sulfur from model coal organosulfur compounds. Proceedings of the Third Symposium on Biotechnology of Coal and Coal-Derived Substances. Hamburg: DGMK Tagungsbericht 9106, pp 63–82
Robinson M, Finnerty WR (1986) Microbial desulfurization of fossil fuels. Biotechnol Bioeng Symp 16:205–221
van Afferden MV, Schacht S, Klein J, Truper HG (1990) Degradation of dibenzothiophene byBrevibacterium sp. Arch Microbiol 153:324–328
Ward B, Lepo JE, Purdy RF, Stevens CJ (1990) Studies on biodesulfurization of model coal organosulfur compounds: Proceedings of the First International Symposium on the Biological Processing of Coal. Palo Alto, California: Electric Power Research Institute, Inc GS-6970, p. P-45
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Purdy, R.F., Lepo, J.E. & Ward, B. Biodesulfurization of organic-sulfur compounds. Current Microbiology 27, 219–222 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01692879
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01692879