This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Meng, M. Articles by Stacy, J. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Meng, M. Articles by Stacy, J. R. Agricola Articles by Meng, M. Articles by Stacy, J. R.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Appl. Environ. Microbiol., Jul 1995, 2548-2553, Vol 61, No. 7
Copyright © 1995, American Society for Microbiology

Denitration of glycerol trinitrate by resting cells and cell extracts of Bacillus thuringiensis/cereus and Enterobacter agglomerans

M Meng, WQ Sun, LA Geelhaar, G Kumar, AR Patel, GF Payne, MK Speedie and JR Stacy
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland at Baltimore 21201-1180, USA.

A number of microorganisms were selected from soil and sediment samples which were known to have been previously exposed to nitrate ester contaminants. The two most effective bacteria for transforming glycerol trinitrate (GTN) were identified as Bacillus thuringiensis/cereus and Enterobacter agglomerans. For both isolates, denitration activities were expressed constitutively and GTN was not required for induction. Dialysis of cell extracts from both isolates did not affect denitration, which indicates that dissociable and depletable cofactors are not required for denitration. With thin-layer chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography, the denitration pathway for both isolates was shown to be a sequential denitration of GTN to glycerol dinitrate isomers, glycerol mononitrate isomers, and ultimately to glycerol. GTN was observed to be completely converted to glycerol during a long-term incubation of cell extracts.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Marshall, S. J., Krause, D., Blencowe, D. K., White, G. F. (2004). Characterization of Glycerol Trinitrate Reductase (NerA) and the Catalytic Role of Active-Site Residues. J. Bacteriol. 186: 1802-1810 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Marshall, S. J., White, G. F. (2001). Complete Denitration of Nitroglycerin by Bacteria Isolated from a Washwater Soakaway. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67: 2622-2626 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Blehert, D. S., Fox, B. G., Chambliss, G. H. (1999). Cloning and Sequence Analysis of Two Pseudomonas Flavoprotein Xenobiotic Reductases. J. Bacteriol. 181: 6254-6263 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Accashian, J. V., Vinopal, R. T., Kim, B.-J., Smets, B. F. (1998). Aerobic Growth on Nitroglycerin as the Sole Carbon, Nitrogen, and Energy Source by a Mixed Bacterial Culture. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64: 3300-3304 [Abstract] [Full Text]