Biotransformation of 2,4-Dinitroanisole by a Fungal Penicillium Sp

Author

Hunter W. Schroer, Missouri University of Science and TechnologyFollow
Kathryn L. Langenfeld
Xueshu Li
Hans Joachim Lehmler
Craig L. Just

Abstract

Insensitive munitions explosives are new formulations that are less prone to unintended detonation compared to traditional explosives. While these formulations have safety benefits, the individual constituents, such as 2,4-dinitroanisole (DNAN), have an unknown ecosystem fate with potentially toxic impacts to flora and fauna exposed to DNAN and/or its metabolites. Fungi may be useful in remediation and have been shown to degrade traditional nitroaromatic explosives, such as 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene and 2,4-dinitrotoluene, that are structurally similar to DNAN. In this study, a fungal Penicillium sp., isolated from willow trees and designated strain KH1, was shown to degrade DNAN in solution within 14 days. Stable isotope labeled DNAN, and an untargeted metabolomics approach were used to discover 13 novel transformation products. Penicillium sp. KH1 produced DNAN metabolites resulting from ortho- and para-nitro reduction, demethylation, acetylation, hydroxylation, malonylation, and sulfation. Incubations with intermediate metabolites such as 2-amino-4-nitroanisole and 4-amino-2-nitroanisole as the primary substrates confirmed putative metabolite isomerism and pathways. No ring-cleavage products were observed, consistent with other reports that mineralization of DNAN is an uncommon metabolic outcome. The production of metabolites with unknown persistence and toxicity suggests further study will be needed to implement remediation with Penicillium sp. KH1. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the biotransformation of DNAN by a fungus.

Recommended Citation

H. W. Schroer et al., "Biotransformation of 2,4-Dinitroanisole by a Fungal Penicillium Sp," Biodegradation, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 95 - 109, Springer, Feb 2017.

The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10532-016-9780-7

Department(s)

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Comments

National Institutes of Health, Grant 000390183

Keywords and Phrases

2,4-Dinitroanisole; Bioremediation; DNAN; Insensitive munitions explosives; Penicillium

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1572-9729; 0923-9820

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2024 Springer, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Feb 2017

PubMed ID

27913891