Defluorination of Monofluoroacetate by Bacteria

Abstract

Monof!uoroacetate (FA) is well known as a toxic substance and has been used as an insecticide: C-F linkage of which is very stable. Bacteria, capable of being grown in a defined salt medium containing FA as a sole source of carbon, have been isolated from soil. It has been found that the def!uorination of FA involved an enzyme which catalyzes the conversion of FA to glycolate and fluoride ions and that the enzyme was induced when bacteria were grown in a defined salt medium containing FA as a sole source of carbon. The activity of defluorination was fairly stable and strong in this organism.

Purification and properties of haloacetate halidohydrolase specified by plasmid from Moraxella sp. strain B.

“…There seems to be two distinct types of the enzyme; one is active on fluoroacetate, and the other is not. Halidohydrolases reported by Horiuchi,1} Tonomura,2) and Goldman3) belong to the former, and those by Davies,4) Goldman,5} and Little6) to the latter.…”

Fate of insecticide residues. Decomposition of lindane in soil

“…To check this possibility, pinches of the percolated soil were inoculated into a basal mineral medium (Tonomura et al, 1965) with lindane as the sole C source.…”

“…A. culture medium (Tonomura et al, 1965) + 0.1 % glucose H. A + lindane -j-museum specimen of E B. A + bacterium of I I.…”

“…In conclusion, this work shows that lindane can be dehydrochlorinated and detoxified to 7-PCCH in moist, acidic-to-neutral soils, and the authors propose that certain soil bacteria may be associated with the breakdown. Direct evidence about microbial involvement could be provided only by controlled biochemical tests (Tonomura et al, 1965).…”

Fluorinated Organics in the Biosphere

“…Given that certain plants can produce MFA, it is not surprising that several microorganisms can metabolize MFA. Pseudomonads and other bacteria as well as some fungi have been shown to grow with MFA and monofluoroacetamide (rat poison) as a carbon source aerobically (40,53,105,(116)(117)(118)(119)(120)(121). The first step in degradation of MFA is a hydrolytic attack of the carbon-fluorine bond yielding glycolic acid (Table 2) (40).…”