Bacterial conversion of phenylalanine and aromatic carboxylic acids into dihydrodiols

Strain E of chloridazon-degrading bacteria, when grown on L-phenylalanine accumulates cis-2,3-dihydro-2,3-dihydroxyphenylalanine. In experiments with resting cells and during growth the bacterium converts the aromatic carboxylic acids phenylacetate, phenylpropionate, phenylbutyrate and phenyl-lactate into the corresponding cis-2,3-dihydrodiol compounds. The amino acids L-phenylalanine, N-acetyl-L-phenylalanine and t-butyloxycarbonyl-L-phenylalanine were also transformed into dihydrodiols. All seven dihydrodiols, thus obtained, were characterized both by conventional analytical techniques and by the ability to serve as substrates for a cis-dihydrodiol dehydrogenase.