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N Barnabe

Publications and source records attributed to N Barnabe.

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Microbial oxidation of gaseous hydrocarbons: epoxidation of C2 to C4 n-alkenes by methylotrophic bacteria.

Over 20 new cultures of methane-utilizing microbes, including obligate (types I and III) and facultative methylotrophic bacteria were isolated. In addition to their ability to oxidize methane to methanol, resting cell-suspensions of three distinct types of methane-grown bacteria (Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b [type II, obligate]; Methylococcus capsulatus CRL M1 NRRL B-11219 [type I, obligate]; and Methylobacterium organophilum CRL-26 NRRL B-11222 [facultative]) oxidize C2 to C4 n-alkenes to their corresponding 1,2-epoxides. The product 1,2-epoxides are not further metabolized and accumulate extracellularly. Methanol-grown cells do not have either the epoxidation or the hydroxylation activities. Among the substrate gaseous alkenes, propylene is oxidized at the highest rate. Methane inhibits the epoxidation of propylene. The stoichiometry of the consumption of propylene and oxygen and the production of propylene oxide is 1:1:1. The optimal conditions for in vivo epoxidation are described. Results from inhibition studies indicate that the same monooxygenase system catalyzes both the hydroxylation and the epoxidation reactions. Both the hydroxylation and epoxidation activities are located in the cell-free particulate fraction precipitated between 10,000 and 40,000 x g centrifugation.

Alkenes

Microbial oxidation of gaseous hydrocarbons: production of methyl ketones from their corresponding secondary alcohols by methane- and methanol-grown microbes.

Cultures of methane- or methanol-utilizing microbes, including obligate (both types I and II) and facultative methylotrophic bacteria, obligate methanol utilizers, and methanol-grown yeasts were isolated from lake water of Warinanco Park, Linden, N.J., and lake and soil samples of Bayway Refinery, Linden, N.J. Resting-cell suspensions of these, and of other known C1-utilizing microbes, oxidized secondary alcohols to their corresponding methyl ketones. The product methyl ketones accumulated extracellularly. Succinate-grown cells of facultative methylotrophs did not oxidize secondary alcohols. Among the secondary alcohols, 2-butanol was oxidized at the highest rate. The optimal conditions for in vivo methyl ketone formation were compared among five different types of C1-utilizing microbes. Some enzymatic degradation of 2-butanone was observed. The product, 2-butanone, did not inhibit the oxidation of 2-butanol. The rate of the 2-butanone production was linear for the first 4 h of incubation for all five cultures tested. A yeast culture had the highest production rate. The optimum temperature for the production of 2-butanone was 35 degrees C for all the bacteria tested. The yeast culture had a higher temperature optimum (40 degrees C), and there was a reasonably high 2-butanone production rate even at 45 degrees C. Metal-chelating agents inhibit the production of 2-butanone, suggesting the involvement of metal(s) in the oxidation of secondary alcohols. Secondary alcohol dehydrogenase activity was found in the cell-free soluble extract of sonically disrupted cells. The cell-free system requires a cofactor, specifically nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, for its activity. This is the first report of a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-dependent, secondary alcohol-specific enzyme.

Butanols