Publication Details |
| Category | Text Publication |
| Reference Category | Journals |
| DOI | 10.1038/ismej.2016.91 |
| Title (Primary) | An unusual strategy for the anoxic biodegradation of phthalate |
| Author | Ebenau-Jehle, C.; Mergelsberg, M.; Fischer, S.; Brüls, T.; Jehmlich, N.
; von Bergen, M.; Boll, M. |
| Source Titel | ISME Journal |
| Year | 2017 |
| Department | MOLSYB |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Page From | 224 |
| Page To | 236 |
| Language | englisch |
| UFZ wide themes | RU3; |
| Abstract | In the past two decades, the study of oxygen-independent degradation of widely abundant aromatic compounds in anaerobic bacteria has revealed numerous unprecedented enzymatic principles. Surprisingly, the organisms, metabolites and enzymes involved in the degradation of o-phthalate (1,2-dicarboxybenzene), mainly derived from phthalate esters that are annually produced at the million ton scale, are sparsely known. Here, we demonstrate a previously unknown capacity of complete phthalate degradation in established aromatic compound-degrading, denitrifying model organisms of the genera Thauera, Azoarcus and ‘Aromatoleum’. Differential proteome analyses revealed phthalate-induced gene clusters involved in uptake and conversion of phthalate to the central intermediate benzoyl-CoA. Enzyme assays provided in vitro evidence for the formation of phthaloyl-CoA by a succinyl-CoA- and phthalate-specific CoA transferase, which is essential for the subsequent oxygen-sensitive decarboxylation to benzoyl-CoA. The extreme instability of the phthaloyl-CoA intermediate requires highly balanced CoA transferase and decarboxylase activities to avoid its cellular accumulation. Phylogenetic analysis revealed phthaloyl-CoA decarboxylase as a novel member of the UbiD-like, (de)carboxylase enzyme family. Homologs of the encoding gene form a phylogenetic cluster and are found in soil, freshwater and marine bacteria; an ongoing global distribution of a possibly only recently evolved degradation pathway is suggested. |
| Persistent UFZ Identifier | https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=18629 |
| Ebenau-Jehle, C., Mergelsberg, M., Fischer, S., Brüls, T., Jehmlich, N., von Bergen, M., Boll, M. (2017): An unusual strategy for the anoxic biodegradation of phthalate ISME J. 11 (1), 224 - 236 10.1038/ismej.2016.91 |
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