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2,4,6-Trinitrophenol degradation by Bacillus cereus isolated from a firing range

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Abstract

Bacillus cereus strain PU, isolated from soil contaminated with explosive waste, tolerated up to 1.3 mM 2,4,6 trinitrophenol (TNP) and utilize it aerobically as sole nitrogen and carbon source. Degradation of TNP was accompanied by stoichiometric release of 2.1 ± 0.15 mol nitrite/mol TNP at 539 μmol/h g dry cell wt. Metabolism of TNP was accompanied by transient accumulation of an orange-red metabolite, hydride meisenheimer complex (H-TNP), indicating a metabolic pathway involving complete reductive removal of the nitro group as nitrite.

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Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank Mr. Ashwini Kumar, Department of Chemistry, Punjabi University, Patiala, India, for his valuable help and technical support during HPLC analysis.

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Correspondence to Kashmir Singh.

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Singh, B., Kaur, J. & Singh, K. 2,4,6-Trinitrophenol degradation by Bacillus cereus isolated from a firing range. Biotechnol Lett 33, 2411–2415 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-011-0726-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-011-0726-1

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