Demonstration of the carbon-sulfur bond targeted desulfurization of benzothiophene by thermophilic Paenibacillus sp strain A11-2 capable of desulfurizing dibenzothiophene

Paenibacillus sp. strain A11-2, which had been primarily isolated as a bact erial strain capable of desulfurizing dibenzothiophene to produce 2-hydroxy biphenyl at high temperatures, was found to desulfurize benzothiophene more efficiently than dibenzothiophene. The desulfurized product was identified as p-hydroxystyrene by GC- MS and H-1-NMR analysis. Benzothiophene was ass umed to be degraded in a way analogous to the 4S pathway, which has been we ll-known as a mode of dibenzothiophene degradation. These results suggest t hat benzothiophene desulfurization may share at least partially the reactio n mechanism with dibenzothiophene desulfurization. (C) 2000 Federation of E uropean Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All r ights reserved.