Microbial Transformation of Alkyl Esters

Abstract

Low molecular weight organic acids and alcohols, such as formate, acetate, methanol and ethanol are well known as growth substrates for bacteria, and can be metabolized by autotrophic (formate), methylotrophic (formate, methanol) or heterotrophic pathways (acetate, ethanol). Less is known about the biodegradation of the esters such as methyl formate, ethyl acetate and so on, up the aliphatic series of possible combinations, although the biological origin of some such esters, such as ethyl acetate is well established (Armstrong et al. 1984; Longo et al. 1992; Kallelmiri and Miclo 1993), and some more complex esters have been demonstrated to be animal pheromones (Mori and Puapoomchareon 1990). Numerous biogenic and anthropogenic sources obviously exist for alcohols, organic acids and their esters, including ripening fruits (Mattheis et al. 1991), alcoholic and acid fermentation reactions (both bacterially- and yeast-catalyzed), in the urban atmosphere and during smog aerosol events (Grosjean 1992; Schultztokos et al. 1992), and numerous organic acids, alcohols and esters, including ethyl acetate, and ketones, such as acetone, are secreted by animals, including dogs, foxes, hyenas and lions (Albone 1984; Natynczuk et al. 1989; Darling 1990), in human breath (Manolis 1983) and by plants (Whitfield et al. 1981).