Hr. Beller et Am. Spormann, BENZYLSUCCINATE FORMATION AS A MEANS OF ANAEROBIC TOLUENE ACTIVATION BY SULFATE-REDUCING STRAIN PRTOL1, Applied and environmental microbiology, 63(9), 1997, pp. 3729-3731
Permeabilized cells of toluene-mineralizing, sulfate-reducing strain P
RTOL1 catalyzed the addition of toluene to fumarate to form benzylsucc
inate under anaerobic conditions. Recent in vitro studies with two tol
uene-mineralizing, denitrifying bacteria demonstrated the same fumarat
e addition reaction and indicated that it may be the first step of ana
erobic toluene degradation. This study with strain PRTOL1 shows that a
naerobic toluene activation by fumarate addition occurs in bacteria as
disparate as sulfate-reducing and denitrifying species (members of th
e delta and beta subclasses of the Proteobacteria, respectively).