Abstract
Monocyclic aromatic compounds (MAC) comprise the second most abundant class of natural compounds, many of which are hazardous for the environment and human health. MAC can readily be degraded by many aerobic microorganisms by the extensive using of oxygenases for aromatic ring hydroxylation and cleavage. However, under anoxic conditions, this strategy is not an option and MAC degrading anaerobic prokaryotes employ a totally different enzyme inventory for attacking the resonance-stabilized aromatic ring system or the C–H bond of alky chains from aromatic hydrocarbons. The anaerobic degradation of MAC has become a treasure trove for the discovery of unprecedented enzymatic principles; many involve metalloenzymes catalyzing radical-based reactions. Characteristic enzymatic reactions involved in anaerobic MAC degradation comprise: (i) the addition of alkylated aromatics to fumarate by glycyl-radical enzymes, (ii) the water-dependent hydroxylation or transhydroxylation of MAC by Mo- or flavin-dependent enzymes, (iii) the carboxylation/decarboxylation of aromatic rings by UbiD-/UbiX-like enzyme systems, and (iv) the dearomatization of aromatics rings by ATP-dependent FeS-enzymes or ATP-independent W-enzymes. The multitude of MAC is converted via peripheral channeling pathways to only a few central intermediates that serve as substrates for dearomatizing ring reductases. Depending on the nature of these central intermediates, we divide the anaerobic MAC degradation pathways into five subgroups and highlight the individual characteristic enzymatic steps involved.
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Boll, M., Estelmann, S., Heider, J. (2018). Catabolic Pathways and Enzymes Involved in the Anaerobic Degradation of Monocyclic Aromatic Compounds. In: Boll, M. (eds) Anaerobic Utilization of Hydrocarbons, Oils, and Lipids. Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33598-8_6-1
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