Abstract
This chapter discusses the catabolism of aromatic compounds by micro-organisms, and reviews (1) enzymic degradations of di- and trihydroxy phenols, (2) reactions converting aromatic compounds into ring-fission substrates, and (3) regulation of catabolic reaction sequences. Ortho-Fission pathways of catechol and protocatechuate as well as meta-fission pathways of catechols are discussed. Important information relating to meta fission has emerged from studies of the microbial degradation of steroids, and an outline of some of these reactions is also given. The enzymic hydroxylation of phenylalanine has been extensively investigated. The system resembles p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase except that the natural cofactor is dihydrobiopterin and not FAD. Pteridines resemble flavins in chemical structure and in their enzymic reactions, but they serve only as electron carriers for hydroxylations and not in the normal electron-transport systems. In both the mammalian and pseudomonad systems, hydroxylation of phenylalanine proceeds by a mechanism, which has been termed the “NIH shift”. The chapter also discusses the bacterial metabolism of gentisates, metabolism of thymol, the oxidation of phenylpropanoid structures arising from Lignins, degradation of α-conidendrin, and regulation of ortho-fission pathways.
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