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Biodegradation of dipropyl phthalate and toxicity of its degradation products: a comparison of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. pisi cutinase and Candida cylindracea esterase

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Abstract

The efficiency of two lypolytic enzymes (fungal cutinase, yeast esterase) in the degradation of dipropyl phthalate (DPrP) was investigated. The DPrP-degradation rate of fungal cutinase was surprisingly high, i.e., almost 70% of the initial DPrP (500 mg/l) was decomposed within 2.5 h and nearly 50% of the degraded DPrP disappeared within the initial 15 min. With the yeast esterase, despite the same concentration, more than 90% of the DPrP remained even after 3 days of treatment. During the enzymatic degradation of DPrP, several DPrP-derived compounds were detected and time-course changes in composition were also monitored. The final chemical composition after 3 days was significantly dependent on the enzyme used. During degradation with fungal cutinase, most DPrP was converted into 1,3-isobenzofurandione (IBF) by diester hydrolysis. However, in the degradation by yeast esterase, propyl methyl phthalate (PrMP) was produced in abundance in addition to IBF. The toxic effects of the final degradation products were investigated using various recombinant bioluminescent bacteria. As a result, the degradation products (including PrMP) from yeast esterase severely caused oxidative stress and damage to protein synthesis in bacterial cells, while in the fungal cutinase processes, DPrP was significantly degraded to non-toxic IBF after the extended period (3 days).

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Acknowledgements

We deeply thank Seung-Hyeon Moon at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology for the GC/MS analysis used in this study. We are also grateful to Prof. C.M.J. Sagt in Utrecht University (Utrecht, Netherlands) for kindly providing the purified cutinase from F. oxysporum f. sp. pisi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Korea University, 1, 5-Ga, Anam-Dong, Sungbuk-Gu, Seoul, 136-713, South Korea

    Yang-Hoon Kim & Jeewon Lee

  2. Department of Biomedical Sciences, National Institute of Health, 5 Nokbun-Dong, Eunpyung-Gu, Seoul, 122-701, South Korea

    Jiho Min

  3. Green Cross Vaccine Corporation, Yongin-Si, Gyeonggi-Do, 449-770, South Korea

    Kyung-Dong Bae

  4. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Buk-Gu, Gwangju, 500-712, South Korea

    Man Bock Gu

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  1. Yang-Hoon Kim
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  2. Jiho Min
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  3. Kyung-Dong Bae
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  5. Jeewon Lee
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Correspondence to Jeewon Lee.

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Kim, YH., Min, J., Bae, KD. et al. Biodegradation of dipropyl phthalate and toxicity of its degradation products: a comparison of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. pisi cutinase and Candida cylindracea esterase. Arch Microbiol 184, 25–31 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-005-0026-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-005-0026-z

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