Cometabolism of m-chlorobenzoate by an Arthrobacter.

Twenty isolates representing nine bacterial genera were obtained from enrichment cultures and were shown to cometabolize one or more of 22 substituted benzoates. One of the isolates, an Arthrobacter sp., cometabolized m-chlorobenzoate to a product identified as 4-chlorocatechol by thin-layer chromatography and ultraviolet and infrared spectroscopy. The data indicate that cometabolism by the arthrobacter results from the formation of products by its benzoate-oxiding enzyme system that are not acted upon by the catechol-metabolizing enzymes of the bacterium.