Degradation of benzenesulfonate to sulfite in bacterial extract

Sulfite formation from benzenesulfonate was studied in extracts from a bacterium grown on this compound as a main carbon source. The activity of sulfite formation depended on the presence of NADH and oxygen as well as magnesium, suggesting an oxygenation-type reaction. The activity was found in a fraction precipitated by ammonium sulfate at 35-50% saturation; the specific activity was 15 times higher than that of crude extract, probably due to the elimination of inhibitory substances of low molecular weight from the preparation. In a distillate of the reaction mixture, phenol was found. Pyrocatechol as well as benzenesulfonate was oxidized in the crude extract, but phenol was not.