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Aerobic degradation of tetrachloroethylene by toluene-o-xylene monooxygenase of Pseudomonas stutzeri OX1

Nature Biotechnology volume 18, pages 775–778 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) is thought to have no natural source, so it is one of the most difficult contaminants to degrade biologically. This common groundwater pollutant was thought completely nonbiodegradable in the presence of oxygen. Here we report that the wastewater bacterium Pseudomonas stutzeri OX1 degrades aerobically 0.56 μmol of 2.0 μmol PCE in 21 h (Vmax ≈ 2.5 nmol min−1 mg−1 protein and KM ≈ 34 μM). These results were corroborated by the generation of 0.48 μmol of the degradation product, chloride ions. This degradation was confirmed to be a result of expression of toluene-o-xylene monooxygenase (ToMO) by P. stutzeri OX1, since cloning and expressing this enzyme in Escherichia coli led to the aerobic degradation of 0.19 μmol of 2.0 μmol PCE and the generation of stoichiometric amounts of chloride. In addition, PCE induces formation of ToMO, which leads to its own degradation in P. stutzeri OX1. Degradation intermediates reduce the growth rate of this strain by 27%.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Educational Aid Program and the National Science Foundation (BES-9807146). We are grateful for the comments on the manuscript provided by Prof. Kenneth Reardon and Prof. Barth Smets.

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Author notes

  1. Doohyun Ryoo

    Present address: Department of Environmental Engineering, Jeonju University, Jeonju, 560-759, Korea

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 06269-3222, CT

    Doohyun Ryoo, Hojae Shim, Keith Canada & Thomas K. Wood

  2. Dipartimento di Genetica e di Biologia dei Microrganismi Universita' degli studi di Milano, Milan, 20133, Italy

    Paola Barbieri

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Correspondence to Thomas K. Wood.

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Ryoo, D., Shim, H., Canada, K. et al. Aerobic degradation of tetrachloroethylene by toluene-o-xylene monooxygenase of Pseudomonas stutzeri OX1. Nat Biotechnol 18, 775–778 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/77344

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