Interaction of Sphingomonas and Pseudomonas strains in the degradation of chlorinated dibenzofurans.

We have studied the concerted degradation of two monochlorodibenzofurans by a bacterial consortium, consisting of the chlorodibenzofurans-cometabolizing and chlorosalicylates-excreting strain Sphingomonas sp RW16, and Pseudomonas sp RW10, which mineralized the released chlorosalicylates. Neither of the organisms was able to grow with chlorodibenzofurans alone. Degradation of 2-chloro- and 3-chlorodibenzofuran proceeded to the end products 5-chloro- and 4-chlorosalicylate, respectively, when the initial dioxygenase of Sphingomonas sp RW 16 attacked the unchlorinated aromatic ring of the heterocyclic dibenzofuran molecule. 2-Hydroxypenta-2,4-dienoate, formed upon meta-cleavage of the intermediary chlorotrihydroxybiphenyls, served as a growth substrate for the sphingomonad. Presumably, most of the chlorosalicylates were excreted and degraded further by Pseudomonas sp RW10. Mineralization of both chlorosalicylates proceeded through a converging pathway, via 4-chlorocatechol, and protoanemonin. Chlorosalicylates were mineralized by the pseudomonad only when their concentration in the culture medium was below 1.5 mM. In the case of initial dioxygenation taking place on the chlorinated aromatic ring, salicylate and chlorinated hydroxypentadienoates should be formed. The metabolic fate of putative chlorohydroxypentadienoates is not clear; ie, they may be channeled into unproductive catabolism and, thus, represent the critical point in the breakdown of the carbon of these two chlorodibenzofurans by Sphingomonas sp RW16.