Photodegradation of halobenzenes in water ice.

Results from the photolysis of o, p-dichlorobenzene, bromobenzene, and p-dibromobenzene in water ice are reported. All phototransformations appeared to be based on dehalogenation, coupling, and rearrangement reactions in ice cavities. No photosolvolysis products, i.e. products from intermolecular reactions between organic and water molecules, were found. Many of the products were very toxic substances of a high environmental risk, such as PCBs. The results support our model, in which secondary, very toxic, pollutants can be formed in ice, snow, and atmospheric ice particles from primary pollutants through the action of solar irradiation. The photoproducts may be released to the environment by ice melting and evaporation.

Regional background monitoring of PBT compounds. The comparison of the results from measurements and modelling.

A comparison of the modelling results of persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals is presented with measurements. Contribution will present mean annual concentrations calculated and observed at EMEP stations and their ratios. The comparison of the calculated results with older results indicates that the model modification improved the agreement with measurement data. PBT compounds in ambient air are monitored in the area of Kosetice observatory (professional observatory of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute located in south Bohemia). Calculated and measured mean annual concentrations of PBTs in precipitation, soil, vegetation and their ratios are presented. It should be mentioned that the number of measurements in such compartments as seawater, soil and vegetation is insufficient for model verification at present. The agreement between results from MSC-East models and results from long-term regional air background monitoring in Central Europe is good.

Purification and characterization of a haloalkane dehalogenase of a new substrate class from a gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane-degrading bacterium, Sphingomonas paucimobilis UT26.

The linB gene product (LinB), 1,3,4,6-tetrachloro-1,4-cyclohexadiene halidohydrolase, which is involved in the degradation of gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane in Sphingomonas paucimobilis UT26 (Y. Nagata, T. Nariya, R. Ohtomo, M. Fukuda, K. Yano, and M. Takagi, J. Bacteriol. 175:6403-6410, 1993), was overproduced in E. coli and purified to homogeneity. The molecular mass of LinB was deduced to be 30 kDa by gel filtration chromatography and 32 kDa by electrophoresis on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel, indicating that LiuB is a monomeric enzyme. The optimal pH for activity was 8.2. Not only monochloroalkanes (C3 to C10) but also dichloroalkanes, bromoalkanes, and chlorinated allphatic alcohols were good substrates for LinB, suggesting that LinB shares properties with another haloalkane dehalogenase, DhlA (S. Keuning, D.B. Janssen, and B. Witholt, J. Bacteriol. 163:635-639, 1985), which shows significant similarity to LinB in primary structure (D. B. Janssen, F. Pries, J. van der Ploeg, B. Kazemier, P. Terpstra, and B. Witholt, J. Bacteriol. 171:6791-6799, 1989) but not in substrate specificity. Principal component analysis of substrate activities of various haloalkane dehalogenases suggested that LinB probably constitutes a new substrate specificity class within this group of enzymes.

Reaction mechanism and stereochemistry of gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane dehydrochlorinase LinA.

gamma-Hexachlorocyclohexane dehydrochlorinase (LinA) catalyzes the initial steps in the biotransformation of the important insecticide gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane (gamma-HCH) by the soil bacterium Sphingomonas paucimobilis UT26. Stereochemical analysis of the reaction products formed during conversion of gamma-HCH by LinA was investigated by GC-MS, NMR, CD, and molecular modeling. The NMR spectra of 1,3,4,5,6-pentachlorocyclohexene (PCCH) produced from gamma-HCH using either enzymatic dehydrochlorination or alkaline dehydrochlorination were compared and found to be identical. Both enantiomers present in the racemate of synthetic gamma-PCCH were converted by LinA, each at a different rate. 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene (1,2,4-TCB) was detected as the only product of the biotransformation of biosynthetic gamma-PCCH. 1,2,4-TCB and 1,2,3-TCB were identified as the dehydrochlorination products of racemic gamma-PCCH. delta-PCCH was detected as the only product of dehydrochlorination of delta-HCH. LinA requires the presence of a 1,2-biaxial HCl pair on a substrate molecule. LinA enantiotopologically differentiates two 1,2-biaxial HCl pairs present on gamma-HCH and gives rise to a single PCCH enantiomer 1,3(R),4(S),5(S),6(R)-PCCH. Furthermore, LinA enantiomerically differentiates 1,3(S),4(R),5(R),6(S)-PCCH and 1,3(R),4(S),5(S),6(R)-PCCH. The proposed mechanism of enzymatic biotransformation of gamma-HCH to 1,2,4-TCB by LinA consists of two 1,2-anti conformationally dependent dehydrochlorinations followed by 1,4-anti dehydrochlorination.