Microbial degradation plays a critical role in determining the fate and transport of many emerging contaminants in the environment. The key to understanding microbial degradation of emerging contaminants is to identify enzymes responsible for the biotransformation. Because proteomics deals with the large-scale determination of gene and cellular function at the protein level, it provides a unique opportunity to identify enzymes that may be responsible for the biotransformation of a particular compound. In this work, we will report our efforts in applying proteomics to study microbial degradation of a steroid hormone, estrone, and an antimicrobial, sulfamethoxazole. Bacterial strain capable of degrading individual contaminants will be added to batch reactors, along with the perspective contaminants at low concentrations. At pre-determined time points, liquid samples will be collected from the batch reactors for the determination of degradation metabolites, and biomass samples will be collected for the identification and quantification of key enzymes. Results from the metabolite and protein analyses will be integrated and used to build the biotransformation pathways for each contaminant. The biotransformation pathway information will not only improve our understanding about the fate of emerging contaminants in the natural environment, but also have the potential to guide the development of treatment process to remove the contaminants in engineered systems.

Using proteomics to identify key enzymes involved in microbial degradation of emerging contaminants

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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