Degradation of n-haloalkanes and alpha, omega-dihaloalkanes by wild-type and mutants of Acinetobacter sp. strain GJ70.

A 1,6-dichlorohexane-degrading strain of Acinetobacter sp. was isolated from activated sludge. The organism could grow with and quantitatively release halide from 1,6-dichlorohexane, 1,9-dichlorononane, 1-chloropentane, 1-chlorobutane, 1-bromopentane, ethylbromide, and 1-iodopropane. Crude extracts contained an inducible novel dehalogenase that liberated halide from the above compounds and also from 1,3-dichloropropane, 1,2-dibromoethane, and 2-bromoethanol. The latter two compounds were toxic suicide substrates for the organism at concentrations of 10 and 5 microM, respectively. Mutants resistant to 1,2-dibromoethane (3 mM) lacked dehalogenase activity and did not utilize haloalkanes for growth. Mutants resistant to both 1,2-dibromoethane (3 mM) and 2-bromoethanol (30 mM) could no longer oxidize or utilize alcohols and were capable of hydrolytic dehalogenation of 1,2-dibromoethane to ethylene glycol.