Unraveling the molecular basis of 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate biodegradation by Gordonia sp. NB4-1Y

自20世纪50年代引入以来，含氟有机化合物在我们的环境中变得普遍。由于它们的化学和热稳定性，氟化化学品被用于制造聚合物，这些聚合物在一系列令人惊叹的消费品中发现，如Teflon，GoreTex，ScotchGuard，消防泡沫和许多其他产品。在过去的二十年里，我们已经了解到，这些氟化化学品中的一些确实具有毒性作用，并且难以生物降解。现在还知道，这类化合物可以在世界各地的空气，土壤，水，地下水以及人类和动物中找到，甚至在北极地区。 这项工作的目标是更加熟悉微生物，如细菌，它们有能力将这些分子转化为无毒产品。为此，我们将研究土壤细菌的分子生物学，该细菌已显示出对氟化磺酸盐的活性，其长期目标是通过更好地了解此类化学品生物降解中涉及的生态过程来开发生物修复工具。 目前，该领域的大部分工作集中在检测和测量人类、动物和环境中的氟化化学品数量。此外，目前正在开展大量工作，监测污水处理设施中含氟化学品的去向。这项工作是新颖的，因为我们即将揭开负责纯细菌培养物中特定氟化化合物生物降解的代谢途径背后的机制。这项研究对于开发修复受污染环境的工具以及为负责监管含氟化学品生产和使用的政策制定者提供更多证据具有重要意义。

Since their introduction in the 1950s, fluorinated organic compounds have become pervasive in our environment. Thanks to their chemical and thermal stability, fluorinated chemicals are used to manufacture polymers found in an amazing array of consumer products such as Teflon, GoreTex, ScotchGuard, fire-fighting foams and many others. Once believed to be safe, we have come to learn over the last two decades that some of these fluorinated chemicals do indeed exhibit toxic effects and are difficult to biodegrade. It is also now known that this class of compound can be found in air, soil, water, groundwater, and humans and animals all around the world, even in the high Arctic. The goal of this work is to become more familiar with microorganisms such as bacteria that have the capacity to convert these molecules into non-toxic products. To do this, we will examine the molecular biology of a soil bacterium that has shown activity against a fluorinated sulfonate with the long-term goal of developing bioremediation tools through a better understanding of the ecological processes involved in the biodegradation of this class of chemicals. Currently, the majority of work in this field is focussed on detecting and measuring the quantities of fluorinated chemicals in humans, animals and the environment. Further, much work is being done with monitoring the fate of fluorinated chemicals in sewage treatment facilities. This work is novel as we are close to unravelling the mechanisms behind metabolic pathways responsible for biodegradation of a specific fluorinated compound in a pure bacterial culture. This research is important for the development of tools to remediate contaminated environments and to provide additional evidence to policymakers responsible for regulating the production and use of fluorinated chemicals.