ABSTRACT
A Pseudomonas species was isolated from soil which could degrade nitrilotriacetate (NTA) to CO(2), H(2)O, NH(3), and cellular constituents without the accumulation of significant quantities of intermediates either in the presence or absence of several inhibitors. After extensive gas chromatography analysis, small quantities of aspartate, glycine, and aconitate were the only detectable compounds to accumulate during NTA degradation, and these compounds were not excreted from the cells. Manometric studies indicated that iminodiacetate, glycine, and glyoxylate are possible intermediates, whereas N-methyliminodiacetate, sarcosine, and acetate are not. The data are consistent with an oxidative cleavage of the C-N bond of NTA as the initial degradation step.
Subject(s)
Acetates/metabolism , Pseudomonas/metabolism , Ammonia/metabolism , Arsenic/pharmacology , Carbon Dioxide/metabolism , Carbon Isotopes , Chromatography, Gas , Culture Media , Dinitrophenols/pharmacology , Freeze Drying , Malonates/pharmacology , Manometry , Nitrilotriacetic Acid/analysis , Nitrilotriacetic Acid/metabolism , Oxygen Consumption , Pseudomonas/growth & development , Time FactorsABSTRACT
With a gas chromatography procedure capable of quantitatively de tecting nitrilotriacetic acid, N-methyliminodiacetic acid, iminodiacetic acid, sarcosine, and glycine at concentrations of 0.025 milligram per liter, it was shown that these compounds were biodegraded by river water. In particular, nitrilotriacetic acid was degraded without the accumulation of any of the amino acids mentioned above or the appearance of any new peaks in the gas chromatography analysis.
