A novel metabolite in the microbial degradation of 2-chlorobenzoate.

A bacterium which utilizes 2-chlorobenzoate as sole source of carbon and energy was isolated from water and tentatively identified as a Pseudomonas sp. During growth on 2-chlorobenzoate, the chlorine substituent was released quantitatively and a metabolite accumulated in the culture medium. Based on thin-layer chromatography, high-pressure liquid chromatography and gas chromatography linked to mass spectrometry this compound was unequivocally identified as 2,3-dihydroxybenzoate, a compound not described before in the degradation of 2-chlorobenzoate.