Investigation the Consumption of Aromatic Hydrocarbons by Anoxybacillus rupeinsis Ir3 (JQ912241) using FTIR and HPLC Analyses

Aims: To confirm the ability of Anoxybacillus rupiensis strain Ir3 (JQ912241) to utilize the aromatic compounds using FTIR and HPLC analyses.

Study Design: Experimental study.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Biotechnology, College of Science, Al-Nahrain University. Baghdad, Iraq, between December 2012 and April 2013.

Methodology: Anoxybacillus rupiensis strain Ir3 (JQ912241), a newly thermophilic bacterium, isolated from hydrocarbon contaminated soil in Iraq, was used. Analytical experiments include HPLC (High performance liquid chromatography) and FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) were used to determine the ability of this strain to utilize the aromatic compounds.

Results: The quantitative analysis (HPLC) indicated that this bacterium showed as much as 99.62% consumption of carbazole, 99.4% of ρ-nitrophenole, 97.73% of nitrobenzene and 98.89% of naphthalene. Qualitative analysis of FTIR spectra showed that A. rupiensis strain Ir3 (JQ912241) has the ability to convert carbazole to anthranilic acid, indicating the presence of the meta cleavage enzyme, this also confirmed by using 2, 3-dihydroxybiphenyl through converting the colony color on Luria-Bertani (LB) and minimal agar plates to brown.

Conclusion: The good ability of A. rupiensis strain Ir3 to utilize the studied aromatic hydrocarbons make it a good candidate as biocatalist. Its ability to convert carbazole to anthranilic acid and to oxidize catechol to 2-hydroxymuconic semialdehyde is through the meta cleavage enzyme.