Biodesulfurization (BDS) of dibenzothiophene (DBT) was carried out by Rhodococcus erythropolis IGST8 decorated with magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles, synthesized in-house by a chemical method, with an average size of 45-50 nm, in order to facilitate the post-reaction separation of the bacteria from the reaction mixture. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the magnetic nanoparticles subst...

A collection of 50 indigenous meta-toluate tolerating bacteria isolated from oil-contaminated rhizosphere of Galega orientalis on selective medium was characterized and identified by classical and molecular methods. 16S rDNA partial sequencing showed the presence of five major lineages of the Bacteria domain. Gram-positive Rhodococcus, Bacillus and Arthrobacter and gram-negative Pseudomonas wer...

Epoxide hydrolases are vital to many organisms by virtue of their roles in detoxification, metabolism and processing of signaling molecules. The Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome encodes an unusually large number of epoxide hydrolases, suggesting that they might be of particular importance to these bacteria. We report here the first structure of an epoxide hydrolase from M.tuberculosis, solved ...

A methodology is presented for calculating of the surface potential, Donnan potential, and ion concentration profiles for semipermeable microbial membranes that is valid for an arbitrary electrolyte composition. This model for surface potential, Donnan potential, and charge density was applied to recently reported experimental data for gram-positive bacteria, including Bacillus brevis, Rhodococ...

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are a class of flame retardants that have been widely used in consumer products, but that are problematic because of their environmental persistence and endocrine-disrupting properties. To date, very little is known about PBDE degradation by aerobic microorganisms and the enzymes involved in PBDE transformation. Resting cells of the polychlorinated bipheny...

Microbial induction of rusty-root was proved in this study. The enzymes hydrolyzing plant structural materials, including pectinase, pectolyase, ligninase, and cellulase, caused the rusty-root in ginseng. Pectinase and pectolyase produced the highest rusty-color formation. Ferrous ion (Fe+++) caused the synergistic effect on rusty-root formation in ginseng when it was used with pectinase. The e...

A method was developed for the purification of catechol 1, 2-dioxygenase from Rhodococcus rhodochrous NCIMB 13259 that had been grown in the presence of benzyl alcohol. The enzyme has very similar apparent Km (1-2 microM) and Vmax (13-19 units/mg of protein) values for the intradiol cleavage of catechol, 3-methylcatechol and 4-methylcatechol and it is optimally active at pH9. Cross-linking stud...

Soil bacterial population dynamics were examined in several crude-oil-contaminated soils to identify those organisms associated with alkane degradation and to assess patterns in microbial response across disparate soils. Seven soil types obtained from six geographically distinct areas of the United States (Arizona, Oregon, Indiana, Virginia, Oklahoma, and Montana) were used in controlled contam...

Gasoline-contaminated soil from Isfahan, Iran was selected to isolate a bacterium capable of desulfurizing dibenzothiophene (DBT). The isolated strain was named R1 and identified as Rhodococcus erythropolis through biochemical tests as well as sequencing of 16S rRNA gene. This strain could efficiently produce 2-hydroxybiphenyl (HBP) from DBT via the 4S metabolic pathway. The highest HBP amount ...

Since the sulfur specific cleavage is vital for the organic sulfur removal from fossil fuel, we explored potential bacterial strains of MTCC (Microbial Type Culture Collection) to desulfurize the Dibenzothiophene (DBT) through C-S bond cleavage (4-S pathway). MTCC strains Rhodococcus rhodochrous (3552), Arthrobacter sulfureus (3332), Gordonia rubropertincta (289), and Rhodococcus erythropolis (...