Microbial degradation of phenols: a review
- 1 January 2008
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Inderscience Publishers in International Journal of Environment and Pollution
- Vol. 32 (1), 12
- https://doi.org/10.1504/ijep.2008.016895
Abstract
The microbial degradation of phenols has been reviewed including the phenol-degrading microbes, factors affecting degradability, and the use of biotechnology with emphasis on degradation mechanisms and their kinetics. The mechanism of microbial degradation depends on aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Under aerobic conditions, degradation of phenol was shown to be initiated by oxygenation into catechols as intermediates followed by a ring cleavage at either the ortho or meta position, depending on the type of strain. Anaerobic biodegradation of phenol occurs by carboxylation followed by dehydroxylation (reducing reaction) and dearomatisation. It was also clear that the parameters used in the Haldane model are not constants but vary, hence it may never be possible to describe the kinetic properties of a microbial cell with a single set of constants.Keywords
This publication has 96 references indexed in Scilit:
- 4‐Hydroxybenzoyl‐CoA reductase (dehydroxylating) from the denitrifying bacterium Thauera aromaticaEuropean Journal of Biochemistry, 1998
- Enhanced biodegradation and emulsification of crude oil and hyperproduction of biosurfactants by a gamma ray-induced mutant of Pseudomonas aeruginosaLetters in Applied Microbiology, 1995
- Purification and Characterization of an Oxygen-Sensitive Reversible 4-Hydroxybenzoate Decarboxylase from Clostridium hydroxybenzoicumEuropean Journal of Biochemistry, 1995
- Identification of a Meta-Cleavage Pathway for Metabolism of Phenoxyacetic Acid and Phenol in Pseudomonas cepacia AC1100Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 1994
- Enhancement of the anaerobic digestion of wine distillery wastewater by the removal of phenolic inhibitorsBioresource Technology, 1993
- Conservation of regulatory and structural genes for a multi-component phenol hydroxylase within phenol-catabolizing bacteria that utilize a meta-cleavage pathwayJournal of General Microbiology, 1993
- Enzymes of anaerobic metabolism of phenolic compoundsEuropean Journal of Biochemistry, 1993
- Biological treatment of phenolic wastes: Comparison between free and immobilized cell systemsBiotechnology Letters, 1992
- Degradation of phenolic compounds by the yeast Candida tropicalis HP 15. II. Some properties of the first two enzymes of the degradation pathwayJournal of Basic Microbiology, 1986
- Degradation of phenol by immobilized cells ofFusarium flocciferumBiotechnology Letters, 1985