Degradation of p-chlorocresol by facultative Thauera sp. strain DO

In this work, Thauera sp. DO isolated from sludge and sediment utilized p-chlorocresol and some related compounds as the sole carbon and energy sources under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The pathways for p-chlorocresol in the isolate under each condition were different. Under the aerobic condition, p-chlorocresol was degraded via two separate pathways. The first was the reductive dehalogenation reaction, in which the substrate was transformed to m-cresol followed by the catechol degradation pathway, and the second aerobic pathway for p-chlorocresol was the methyl oxidation to 4-chlorobenzoate. Under the anaerobic conditions, p-chlorocresol was rapidly dechlorinated in the first step to m-cresol, followed by sevaral steps prior to the complete degradation. The determination of p-chlorocresol degradation in liquid media by whole cells showed that 100% and 85% of the substrate (0.3 mM) were transformed within 12 h under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, respectively, while nearly 100% of this compound was degraded within 6 h using the two-stage anaerobic-aerobic degradation process. These results show a novel method to increase the degradation rates of p-chlorocresol using the anaerobic process followed by the aerobic process.