Oxidation of biphenyl by the cyanobacterium, Oscillatoria sp., strain JCM

The oxidation of biphenyl by Cyanobacterium, Oscillatoria sp., strain JCM was studied. The organism grown photoautotrophically in the presence of biphenyl oxidized biphenyl to form 4-hydroxybiphenyl. The structure of the metabolite was elucidated by ultraviolet and mass spectra and shown to be identical to authentic 4-hydroxybiphenyl. In addition this metabolite had properties identical to 4-hydroxybiphenyl when analyzed by thin-layer and high-pressure liquid chromatography. Experiments with [14C]-biphenyl showed that over a 24 h period the organism oxidized 2.9% of the added biphenyl to ethyl acetate-soluble products.