Nature Biotechnology
14, 320 - 322 (1996)
doi:10.1038/nbt0396-320
Metabolism of Nitrate Esters by a Consortium of Two BacteriaJuan L. Ramos*, Ali Haïdour1, Estrella Duque1, Guadalupe Piñar1, Victor Calvo2
& José-Miguel Oliva3
1Consejo Superior de Investigations Cientificas, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology of Plants, Profesor Albareda no 1,E-18008 Granada, Spain.
2Unión Española de Explosivos, Fábrica de Páramo de Masa, E-09080 Burgos, Spain.
3Unión Espanola de Explosives, Department of Research and Development, E-28042 Madrid, Spain.
*Estacion Experimental del Zaidin, Apdo 419, E-18008 Granada, Spain e-mail: jlramos@eez.csic.es The products of condensation of organic alcohols and nitric acid are nitrate esters with the general structure C-O-NO2. These products are widely employed as vasodilators and explosives, and are true xenobiotic compounds, as they do not occur in nature. We have isolated and characterized a consortium of two microorganisms, Arthrobacter ilici's and Agrobacterium radiobacter, that mineralized recalcitrant ethylene glycol dinitrate. The Arthrobacter strain was the actual degrading microorganism, although the second microbe facilitated mineralization. The biodegradation of ethylene glycol dinitrate by A ilicis involved the progressive elimination of the nitro groups from the organic molecule to generate ethylene glycol, which was then mineralized. Waters polluted with ethylene glycol dinitrate have been shown amenable to biological treatment in a pilot plant with wastewaters generated during the synthesis of the chemical in a factory.
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