Metabolic pathway of homophthalic acid in Pseudomonas alcaligenes

A microorganism capable of degrading homophthalic acid as a sole carbon source was isolated from garden soil. The strain was identified as Pseudomonas alcaligenes. The organism degraded homophthalate by a pathway which involved phenylacetate and p-hydroxyphenylacetate as intermediates. The intermediates have been identified by physico-chemical methods. A tentative pathway for the degradation of homophthalate is proposed based on isolation of intermediates, oxygen uptake studies and presence of enzymes involved in the degradation.