Anaerobic toluene degradation is of interest both because of its relevance to bioremediation of gasoline-contaminated aquifers and because of remarkable aspects of the biochemical reactions involved. We will focus on the benzylsuccinate synthase (BSS) reaction, which is the first step of anaerobic toluene and xylene degradation and represents a novel means of carbon-carbon bond formation. BSS, a glycyl radical enzyme, has been reported in phylogenetically diverse cultures that degrade toluene under a range of electron-accepting conditions.  To date, no enzyme other than BSS has been identified that catalyzes the first (activation) step of anaerobic toluene degradation.  I will discuss early biochemical studies characterizing BSS and describe how biochemical and genetic knowledge of the BSS reaction has led to our successful development of PCR-based and mass spectrometric methods for documenting in situ alkylbenzene degradation in fuel-contaminated aquifers.

Exploiting the benzylsuccinate synthase reaction for biomolecular and mass spectrometric monitoring of in situ alkylbenzene degradation

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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