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Quinoline biodegradation and its nitrogen transformation pathway by a Pseudomonas sp. strain

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Abstract

A Pseudomonas sp. strain, which can utilize quinoline as its sole carbon, nitrogen and energy source, was isolated from activated sludge in a coking wastewater treatment plant. Quinoline can be degraded via the 8-hydroxycoumarin pathway. We quantified the first two organic intermediates of the biodegradation, 2-hydroxyquinoline and 2,8-dihydroxyquinoline. We tracked the transformation of the nitrogen in quinoline in two media containing different C/N ratios. At least 40.4% of the nitrogen was finally transformed into ammonium when quinoline was the sole C and N source. But addition of an external carbon source like glucose promoted the transformation of N from NH3 into NO3 −, NO2 −, and then to N2. The product analysis and gene characteristics indicated that the isolate accomplished heterotrophic nitrification and aerobic denitrification simultaneously. The study also demonstrated that quinoline and its metabolic products can be eliminated if the C/N ratio is properly controlled in the treatment of quinoline-containing wastewater.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by an exploration project grant from the National High-tech Research and Development Program of China (863 Program, Grant No. 2006AA06Z336) and a general Project grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50878001). We would like to express our appreciation to Prof Yi Li and Mr Mian Xia in the Beijing Weiming Kaituo Agro-biotechnology Ltd., for assistance with the molecular biology. We also thank Prof. Iain Bruce in Zhejiang University School of Medicine for critical checking and revising the paper’s English.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People’s Republic of China

    Yaohui Bai, Qinghua Sun, Cui Zhao, Donghui Wen & Xiaoyan Tang

Authors
  1. Yaohui Bai
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  2. Qinghua Sun
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  3. Cui Zhao
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  4. Donghui Wen
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  5. Xiaoyan Tang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Donghui Wen.

Additional information

Nucleotide sequence accession number

The accession numbers of the isolates 16S rRNA gene, nirS, and nosZ on GenBank are EU266621, FJ393272 and FJ393273.

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Bai, Y., Sun, Q., Zhao, C. et al. Quinoline biodegradation and its nitrogen transformation pathway by a Pseudomonas sp. strain. Biodegradation 21, 335–344 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10532-009-9304-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10532-009-9304-9

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