Description:
Isocarbophos (O-2-isopropoxycarbonylphenyl O-methyl phosphoramidothioate) is a widely-used organophosphorous insecticide and acaricide. It persists in the environment and is moderately toxic, thus its biodegradation pathway is of interest ([http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19996699|Li et al., 2009]). Arthrobacter sp. scl-2 can use iscarbophos as its sole source of carbon and phosphorous for growth. The first step in the pathway is hydrolysis of the O-methyl phosphoramidothioate moietry by an organophosphorous hydrolase (Wang, J.F. et al., The degradation effects of a Pseudomonas hydrolase OPHC2 to organophosphorus insecticides. Phosphorus Sulfur Silicon Relat. Elem, 183:804-810, 2008) to produce isopropyl salicylate. The isopropyl ester is next hydrolyzed to produce salicylate, a common, readily degraded, bacterial metabolic intermediate ([http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19996699|Li et al., 2009]).