Description:
Dimethyl isophthalate (DMI) is a white flaked solid, soluble in most organic solvents and belongs to a category of compounds called dimethyl phthalate esters (DMPE). DMI is used to modify the structural integrity of plastics such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Health concerns may be warranted due to the estrogenic mimicking properties of DMI ([http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17462710|Cheung et al., 2007]). The complementary metabolism of Klebsiella oxytoca Sc and Methylobacterium mesophilicum Sr can degrade DMI to non toxic metabolites ([http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17258288|Li et al., 2007]). Variovorax paradoxus T4 and Xanthobacter sp. ([http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17462710|Cheung et al., 2007]), and Rhodococcus erythropolis 5D and R. ruber 1B (Aleshchenkova et al., Microbiol. 66: 515-518, 1997) can also degrade DMI by the same pathway. Other phthalate degradation pathways are found on the Phthalate Family Map.