Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 30, 2025

A General Method for Detecting Nitrosamide Formation in the In Vitro Metabolism of Nitrosamines by Cytochrome P450s
Published on: September 25, 2017
Construction of complete degradation pathway for nitrobenzene in Escherichia coli
Yong-Dong Deng1, Li-Juan Wang1, Wen-Hui Zhang1
1Biotechnology Research Institute of Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genetics and Breeding, 2901, Beidi Road, Shanghai, China; Key Laboratory for Safety Assessment (Enviornment) of Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Shanghai, China.
Abstract:
Nitrobenzene is widely present in industrial wastewater and soil. Biodegradation has become an ideal method to remediate organic pollutants due to its low cost, high efficiency, and absence of secondary pollution. In the present study, 10 exogenous genes that can completely degrade nitrobenzene were introduced into Escherichia coli, and their successful expression in the strain was verified by fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction and proteomic analysis. The results of the degradation experiment showed that the engineered strain could completely degrade 4 mM nitrobenzene within 8 h. The formation of intermediate metabolites was detected, and the final metabolites entered the E. coli tricarboxylic acid cycle smoothly. This process was discovered by isotope tracing method. Results indicated the integrality of the degradation pathway and the complete degradation of nitrobenzene. Finally, further experiments were conducted in soil to verify its degradation ability and showed that the engineered strain could also degrade 1 mM nitrobenzene within 10 h. In this study, engineered bacteria that can completely degrade nitrobenzene have been constructed successfully. The construction of remediation-engineered bacteria by synthetic biology laid the foundation for the industrial application of biological degradation of organic pollutants.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution: Nitration of Benzene
meta-Directing Deactivators: –NO2, –CN, –CHO, –⁠CO2R, –COR, –CO2H
Preparation of Amines: Reduction of Oximes and Nitro Compounds
Though catalytic hydrogenation can reduce nitrobenzenes, the reduction is nonselective in the presence of other functional groups. For instance, if nitrobenzene contains an aldehyde group,...
Benzene to 1,4-Cyclohexadiene: Birch Reduction Mechanism
Inorganic Nitrogen Assimilation
Overview of Nitrogen Metabolism
The largest pool of nitrogen available in the terrestrial ecosystem is gaseous nitrogen (N2) from the air, but this...

