The effect of terpenes on the biodegradation of polychlorinated biphenyls by Pseudomonas stutzeri

The effect of two terpenes, carvone and limonene, on the biodegradation of DELOR 103, a commercial mixture of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), by Pse udomonas stutzeri, an isolate from long-term PCB-contaminated soil, was stu died in detail. The addition of both carvone and limonene as potential indu cers of the dioxygenase metabolic pathway exerted an enhancing effect on PC B biodegradation when glycerol and xylose were used as carbon sources, wher eas no such effect could be determined with biphenyl and glucose as substra tes. Promising biodegradation values were determined with xylose as carbon source and carvone as terpene inducer. In this system, 30-70% of the congen ers were degraded in the presence of 10 mg l(-1) and 20 mg l(-1) carvone, r espectively, irrespective of the used concentration, whereas only 7-37% of individual PCB congeners were eliminated from the system without terpene ad dition. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.