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Biodegradation of fluoranthene by Paenibacillus sp. strain PRNK-6: a pathway for complete mineralization

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Abstract

A high-efficiency fluoranthene-degrading bacterium Paenibacillus sp. PRNK-6 was isolated from PAH-contaminated soil. The strain degrades 96% (240 mg l−1) of fluoranthene in 48 h. Various metabolic intermediates of fluoranthene catabolism were identified by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography–high resolution mass spectrometry (GC-HRMS). Metabolite characterization, metabolite-feeding experiments, and appropriate enzyme activities in the cell-free extracts suggest the existence of a bifurcated pathway down the phthalic acid for complete mineralization of fluoranthene in PRNK-6. In this strain, fluoranthene catabolism begins by the attack on the fused aromatic ring portion of fluoranthene. Two terminal aromatic metabolites protocatechuate and catechol undergo ring cleavage by protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase and catechol 1,2-dioxygenase, respectively, and enter the central metabolism.

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Abbreviations

PAHs:

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

LMW:

Low molecular weight PAHs

HMW:

High molecular weight PAHs

US-EPA:

United States Environmental Protection Agency

MSTFA:

N-Methyl-N- (trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide

TMS:

Trimethyl silane

MSM:

Mineral salt medium

GC:

Gas chromatography

GC-HRMS:

Gas chromatography–high resolution mass spectrometry

BLAST:

Basic Local Alignment Search Tool

NCBI:

National Center for Biotechnology Information

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank SAIF, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, India, for the analysis of fluoranthene metabolites by GC-HRMS and the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, India, for financial support in the form of UGC-SAP programme [No. F. 4-27/2015/DRS-II (SAP-II)] sanctioned to the department. One of the authors, Pooja V. Reddy, acknowledges the UGC, New Delhi, for financial assistance through UGC-BSR Fellowship.

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  1. Department of Biochemistry, Gulbarga University, Kalaburagi, Karnataka, 585106, India

    Pooja V. Reddy, T. B. Karegoudar, T. R. Monisha, I. Mukram & Anand S. Nayak

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  1. Pooja V. Reddy
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  2. T. B. Karegoudar
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  3. T. R. Monisha
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Correspondence to Anand S. Nayak.

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Communicated by Matthias Boll.

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Reddy, P.V., Karegoudar, T.B., Monisha, T. et al. Biodegradation of fluoranthene by Paenibacillus sp. strain PRNK-6: a pathway for complete mineralization. Arch Microbiol 200, 171–182 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-017-1431-9

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