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Indigoids Biosynthesis from Indole by Two Phenol-Degrading Strains, Pseudomonas sp. PI1 and Acinetobacter sp. PI2

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Abstract

In this study, two phenol-degrading bacterial strains, designated as PI1 and PI2, were isolated from activated sludge for the production of indigoids from indole. According to the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequence analysis, strains PI1 and PI2 were identified as Pseudomonas sp. and Acinetobacter sp., respectively. Liquid chromatography/time-of-flight/mass spectrometry (LC/TOF/MS) was applied to analyze the metabolites during the biotransformation of indole by the phenol-degrading strains. The results indicated that both strains could catalyze the formation of four indigoids with the same prominent molecular ion (M-H)− peak at m/z 261.067 and molecular formula of C16H10N2O2, including indigo and a purple product, 2-(7-oxo-1H-indol-6(7H)-ylidene) indolin-3-one. Isatin and 7-hydroxyindole were detected as the intermediates. Thus, the possible pathways for the production of indigoids from indole were proposed. Subsequently, the optimal conditions for the production of indigo from indole were determined using response surface methodology, and 11.82 ± 0.30 and 17.19 ± 0.49 mg/L indigo were produced by strains PI1 and PI2, respectively. The present study should provide potential candidates for microbial production of indigoids.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21176040), the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (No. NCET-13-0077), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. DUT14YQ107).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China

    Jing Wang, Jiangli Fan & Xiaojun Peng

  2. Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (Ministry of Education, China), School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China

    Xuwang Zhang, Zhaojing Zhang & Qiao Ma

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  1. Jing Wang
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  2. Xuwang Zhang
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  3. Jiangli Fan
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Correspondence to Jing Wang.

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Wang, J., Zhang, X., Fan, J. et al. Indigoids Biosynthesis from Indole by Two Phenol-Degrading Strains, Pseudomonas sp. PI1 and Acinetobacter sp. PI2. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 176, 1263–1276 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-015-1644-9

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