Degradation of various alkyl ethers by alkyl ether-degrading Actinobacteria isolated from activated sludge of a mixed wastewater treatment

Various substrate specificity groups of alkyl ether (AE)-degrading Actinobacteria coexisted in activated sewage sludge of a mixed wastewater treatment. There were substrate niche overlaps including diethyl ether between linear AE- and cyclic AE-degrading strains and phenetole between monoalkoxybenzene- and linear AE-degrading strains. Representatives of each group showed different substrate specificities and degradation pathways for the preferred substrates. Determining the rates of initial reactions and the initial metabolite(s) from whole cell biotransformation helped us to get information about the degradation pathways. Rhodococcus sp. strain DEE5311 and Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain 117 both were able to degrade anisole and phenetole through aromatic 2-monooxygenation to form 2-alkoxyphenols. In contrast, diethyl ether-oxidizing strain DEE5311 capable of degrading a broad range of linear AE, dibenzyl ether and monoalkoxybenzenes initially transformed anisole and phenetole to phenol via direct O-dealkylation. Compared to this, cyclic AE-degrading Rhodococcus sp. strain THF100 preferred tetrahydrofuran (265 ± 35 nmol min−1 mg−1 protein) to diethyl ether (<30), but it cannot oxidize bulkier AE than diethyl ether. Otherwise, 1,4-diethoxybenzene-degrading Rhodococcus sp. strain DEOB100 and Gordonia sp. strain DEOB200 transformed 1,3-/1,4-dialkoxybenzenes to 3-/4-alkoxyphenols by similar manners in the order of rates (nmol min−1 mg−1 protein): 1,4-diethoxybenzene (11.1 vs. 3.9) > 1,4-dimethoxybenzene (1.6 vs. 2.6) > 1,3-dimethoxybenzene (0.6 vs. 0.6). This study suggests that the AE-degrading Actinobacteria can orchestrate various substrate specificity responses to the degradation of various categories of AE pollutants in activated sludge communities.