Description:
Pentachlorophenol (PCP) is a chlorinated insecticide and fungicide. It is used primarily to protect timber from fungal rot and wood boring insects. PCP is significantly toxic to mammals, plants, and many microorganisms. Despite this, bacteria have been identified that are resistant to relatively high PCP concentrations and can metabolize it to carbon dioxide and chloride. Bacteria have been used successfully in PCP bioremediation. The Japanese Database for Environmental Fate of Chemicals has information on the rates and pathways of Biodegradation of Chlorophenols and Chlorobenzenes in Sediments. For a comprehensive treatment of microbial PCP metabolism, see K.A. McAllister, H. Lee & J.T. Trevors (1996) Biodegradation 7:1-40. 2,6-Dichlorohydroquinone 1,2-dioxygenase is an enzyme that catalyzes the oxidative cleavage of 2,6-dichlorohydroquinone. The site of cleavage was shown to occur between the 1 and 2 positions by [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10600501|Xun et al. (1999)].