Metabolism of Aromatic Compounds

1) About 130 bacterial strains which can utilize various aromatic compounds as the sole car-bon source were isolated from soils and sewages. And their metabolic specificity and strength of metabolic activity against various aromatic compounds were shown in Table 1. Strains which exhibited strong decomposing power on some compounds were used for the present experiments. 2) The metabolic pathways of oxidative decomposition of three isomers of monohydroxybenzoic acid by simultaneous or successive adaptation technique were studied, and the follwoing schemes were proposed by using several strains in each pathway. a) Salicylic acid _??_ b) m-Hydroxybenzoic acid _??_ c) p-Hydroxybenzoic acid 3) Among these pathwasy, oxidative pathways of m-hydroxybenzoic acid via protocatechuic acid and gentisic acid were originally proposed by the present authors. Thus it was manifested for the first time that there exist two pathways, i.e. pathway via protocatechu _??_ and pathway via gentisate, in oxidative decomposition of m-hydroxybenzoic acid by bacteria. 4) Oxidative decomposition of salicylic acid-legally admitted to add in saké-by Hiochi bacteria and the same decomposition of p-hydroxybenzoic alkyl esters-widely used for the fungicide of Shoyu-by p-hydroxybenzoic acid adapted bacteria were neither recognized.