biodegradation of phenol is a major focus of toxic organic compound degradation by microorganisms isolated from polluted areas. an increasing number of bacteria and fungi possessing unique biodegradation capabilities have been isolated in recent years. in this study a new isolate, rhodococcus erythropolis sko-1, from polluted soils in the tehran oil refinery region, is reported. identificati...

AIMS The aim of this study was to convert numerous polyaromatic and monoaromatic hydrocarbons into biodegradable polymer medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoate (mcl-PHA). METHODS AND RESULTS Using naphthalene enrichment cultivation method, we have isolated seven bacterial strains from the river sediment exposed to petrochemical industry effluents. In addition to naphthalene, all seven strai...

Monoaromatic hydrocarbons (MAHs) monitoring is of environmental interest since these chemical pollutants are omnipresent. While waiting for robust sensors able to detect hydrocarbons at very low levels, the present study shows how each compound from pure BTEX mixtures can be identified fast and quantified thanks to Raman spectrometry and data processing based on the SIMPLISMA algorithm. A prepr...

Monoaromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) are widespread contaminants in groundwater. We examined the anaerobic degradation of BTEX compounds with amorphous ferric oxide as electron acceptor. Successful enrichment cultures were obtained for all BTEX substrates both in the presence and absence of AQDS (9,10-anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonic acid). The electro...

Rearrangement of cholesta-2,4,6-triene in the presence of p-toluenesulfonic acid in acetic acid at 70 C leads to 4-methyl-19-nor-cholesta-1,3,5(10)-triene and 1(10 ! 6)-abeo-14b-cholesta-5,7,9(10)-triene in less than 2 h. Postulated mechanisms of formation of these products are supported by molecular mechanics calculations of the relative stabilities of reaction intermediates. The results sugge...

Three independent techniques were used to assess the biodegradation of monoaromatic hydrocarbons and low-molecular weight polyaromatic hydrocarbons in the alluvial aquifer at the site of a former cokery (Flémalle, Belgium). Firstly, a stable carbon isotope-based field method allowed quantifying biodegradation of monoaromatic compounds in situ and confirmed the degradation of naphthalene. No evi...