Large inocula of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia VUN 10,003 were used to investigate bacterial degradation of benzo[a]pyrene and dibenz[a,h]anthracene. Although strain VUN 10,003 was capable of degrading 10-15 mg l-1 of the five-ring compounds in the presence of pyrene after 63 days, further addition of pyrene after degradation of the five-ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) ceased did not stimulate significant decreases in the concentration of benzo[a]pyrene or dibenz[a,h]anthracene. However, pyrene was degraded to undetectable levels 21 days after its addition. The amount of benzo[a]pyrene and dibenz[a,h]anthracene degraded by strain VUN 10,003 was not affected by the initial concentration of the compounds when tested at 25-100 mg l-1, by the accumulation of by-products from pyrene catabolism or a loss of ability by the cells to catabolise benzo[a]pyrene or dibenz[a,h]anthracene. Metabolite or by-product repression was suspected to be responsible for the inhibition: By-products from the degradation of the five-ring compounds inhibited their further degradation.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Biological Sciences
Research Group:	Microbiology
Research Field:	Bacteriology
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences
Author:	Britz, ML (Professor Margaret Britz)
ID Code:	73318
Year Published:	2002
Web of Science® Times Cited:	24
Deposited By:	Research Division
Deposited On:	2011-09-26
Last Modified:	2011-09-26
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