Identification and characterization of benzene carboxylase, the key enzyme in anaerobic benzene degradation

厌氧降解是去除受污染含水层中芳烃的最重要过程之一。然而，由于极其困难的培养，对诸如苯的非取代芳烃的降解知之甚少。在这里，我们要确定和描述的初始活化反应在厌氧降解苯。一个铁还原和硫酸盐还原苯降解培养，这是以前在我们的实验室富集应纯化和微生物描述。与此同时，我们将通过硫酸盐还原培养和蛋白质组学工具的基因组测序来确定参与苯厌氧活化的推定酶。然后，我们将测试苯羧化酶的酶反应，并与厌氧萘降解的结果进行比较。

Anaerobic degradation is one of the most important processes to remove aromatic hydrocarbons from contaminated aquifers. However, the degradation of non-substituted aromatics such as benzene is poorly understood due to the extremely difficult cultivation. Here, we want to identify and describe the initial activation reactions in anaerobic degradation of benzene. An iron-reducing and a sulphate-reducing benzene-degrading culture that was previously enriched in our lab shall be purified and microbiologically described. In parallel, we will identify putative enzymes involved in anaerobic activation of benzene by genome sequencing of our sulphate-reducing culture and proteomic tools. We will then test the enzyme reaction of benzene carboxylase and compared to the results from anaerobic naphthalene degradation.