Abstract
Microbial decomposition of coumarin was studied in samples of chernozem soil by manometric measurement of oxygen consumption, paper chromatography of aromatic metabolic intermediates in soil extract and measurement of their UV spectra, and by the technique of simultaneous adaptation. Coumarin is decomposed in soil viao-coumaric and melilotic acids and at least one other compound of aromatic character. The metabolic pathway including salicylic acid and catechol was not proved. A total of 39 strains of coumarin-decomposing bacteria were isolated from the soil, out of which 25 belong to the genusPseudomonas, 7 to the genusCellulomonas and 7 to the genusAchromobacter. A comparison of the counts of bacteria utilizing coumarin as a sole carbon source in garden soil, in two chernozem soil samples and in acidic brown soil showed that their occurrence bears no relation to the so-called total number of bacteria (grown on agar medium with yeast and soil extracts and with tryptone) or to the content of carbon and nitrogen in the soil, or to its acidity.
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Kunc, F. Microbial decomposition of coumarin in soil. Folia Microbiol 19, 209–217 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02895020
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02895020