Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to R Bartha.
Quantitative mineralization studies on radiolabeled compounds having high vapor pressures need to cope with several technical difficulties. An incubation and trapping system is described that was successfully used in mineralization studies on highly volatile trichlorobenzenes and other xenobiotic pollutants.
The biodegradation of radiochemically pure (99%) 1,2,3- and 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene (TCB) in soil was investigated. Experimental difficulties posed by the high volatility and slow biodegradation rate of the TCBs were partially overcome by using a specially designed incubation and trapping apparatus. Evolution of (14)CO(2) from active versus poisoned soil dosed with 50 mug of the individual TCBs per g gave conclusive proof that both isomers are biodegradable. At 20 degrees C, 1,2,4-TCB was mineralized at an approximate rate of 1 nmol/day per 20 g of soil sample, and 1,2,3-TCB was mineralized at one-half to one-third that rate. Mineral fertilizers or cosubstrates failed to increase TCB mineralization rates in soil. Anaerobic conditions had a negative effect on mineralization, and increased temperatures had a positive effect. With increasing 1,2,4-TCB concentrations, (14)CO(2) evolution exhibited saturation kinetics with an apparent K(m) of 55.5 nmol per g of soil. Recovery of total radioactivity was good from soil containing high organic matter concentrations. From low-organic-matter soil, some of the radioactivity was recovered only on combustion, and overall recovery was lower. In soil-inoculated liquid culture, the cosubstrates glucose and benzene caused a slight stimulation of 1,2,4-TCB mineralization. Cochromatography of known standards with the extracts of soil pretreated with [(14)C]TCBs indicated that 3,4,5-trichlorophenol, 2,6-dichlorophenol and, to a lesser degree, 2,3-dichlorophenol were present in soils incubated with 1,2,3-TCB. 2,4-, 2,5-, and 3,4-dichlorophenol were present in soils incubated with 1,2,4-TCB.
Soil sediment enrichment cultures yielded a coryneform bacterium capable of growing in a mineral salts solution with acetylene gas as its only source of carbon and energy. Based on morphological and physiological traits as well as on cell wall analysis, the bacterium was characterized as a strain of Nocardia rhodochrous. Maximal growth rates (generation time 2.7 to 3.0 h) on acetylene were obtained at 5 to 20% acetylene, 25 to 40% oxygen, pH 7.0 and 26 to 28 degrees C. Yields (grams of dry cells produced per gram of acetylene consumed) ranged between 90 and 110%. N. rhodochrous exhibits a growth factor requirement for the pyrimidine moiety of thiamine. Acetylene utilization is not an obligate trait, and a wide range of alternate carbon sources is utilized. Ethylene is neither produced nor consumed. The only previous report on acetylene utilization appeared in 1932. The Mycobacterium lacticola strain described in that report strongly resembles N. rhodochrous.
An atypical strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa capable of synthesizing three phenazine pigments was isolated. Cultural conditions, under which the strain forms either chlororaphin, oxychlororaphin, or pyocyanine, are described. This broad spectrum of pigment production, as well as some other characteristics, sets this strain apart from previously described chlororaphin producers.
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The biodegradation of South Louisiana (SL) crude oil and the effects of nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron supplements on this process were compared in a polluted (10,900 oil degraders per liter) and in a relatively clean (750 oil degraders per liter) littoral seawater sample taken along the New Jersey coast. Without supplements, the biodegradation of SL crude oil was negligible in both seawater samples. Addition of nitrogen and phosphorus allowed very rapid biodegradation (72% in 3 days) in polluted seawater. Total iron in this seawater sample was high (5.2 muM), and the addition of iron did not increase the biodegradation rate further. In the less polluted and less iron-rich (1.2 muM) seawater sample, biodegradation of SL crude oil was considerably slower (21% in 3 days) and the addition of chelated iron had a stimulating effect. Ferric octoate was shown to have a similar stimulating effect on SL crude oil biodegradation as chelated iron. Ferric octoate, in combination with paraffinized urea and octylphosphate, is suitable for treatment of floating oil slicks. We conclude that spills of SL crude and similar oils can be cleaned up rapidly and efficiently by stimulated biodegradation, provided the water temperatures are favorable.
Branched- and straight-chain alkanes are metabolized by Brevibacterium erythrogenes by means of two distinct pathways. Normal alkanes (e.g., n-pentadecane) are degraded, after terminal oxidation, by the beta-oxidation system operational in fatty acid catabolism. Branched alkanes like pristane (2,6,10,14-tetramethylpentadecane) and 2-methylundecane are degraded as dicarboxylic acids, which also undergo beta-oxidation. Pristane-derived intermediates are observed to accumulate, with time, as a series of dicarboxylic acids. This dicarboxylic acid pathway is not observed in the presence of normal alkanes. Release of (14)CO(2) from [1-(14)C]pristane is delayed, or entirely inhibited, in the presence of n-hexadecane, whereas CO(2) release from n-hexadecane remains unaffected. These results suggest an inducible dicarboxylic acid pathway for degradation of branched-chain alkanes.
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When applied in combination, the herbicides N-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-propionamide (propanil) and N-(3-chloro-4-methylphenyl)-2-methyl-pentanamide (solan) were transformed in soil to an unexpected residue-asymmetric 3,3',4-trichloro-4'-methylazobenzene. Each herbicide contributed one-half of the asymmetric azobenzene molecule.
Peroxidase-positive microorganisms were enumerated on agar plates by use of a p-anisidine-H(2)O(2) spray. Combined with replica-plating, the same technique allowed the selective isolation of peroxidase-producing microbial cultures.
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