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Environmental microbiology

Phenol and the phyllosphere

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 4, pages 880–881 (2006)Cite this article

Bacteria on the leaf surface — the phyllosphere — could potentially have a role in removing organic pollutants from the air, according to a recent paper in Environmental Microbiology.

Amarjyoti Sandhu, Larry Halverson and Gwyn Beattie used a bioreporter system comprising Pseudomonas fluorescens strain A506 harbouring a plasmid carrying a fusion between a phenol catabolic operon and green fluorescent protein (A506 (pPhenol)). The availability of airborne phenol to bacteria on the leaf surface was assessed by inoculating A506 (pPhenol) onto leaves, then exposing the leaves to gaseous phenol in closed chambers. The results showed that the cells of the reporter strain on leaves could detect the introduced phenol. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as phenol are known to be taken up by sorption onto the leaf cuticle. Could the reporter strain detect phenol that had been absorbed in this manner? This was assessed by exposing leaves to phenol before inoculating the leaf surface with A506 (pPhenol), and the results indicated that phenol accumulates on the leaf surface and is available to the bacteria there.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Sandhu, A., Halverson, L. J. & Beattie, G. A. Bacterial degradation of airborne phenol in the phyllosphere. Environ. Microbiol. 04 Oct 2006 (10.1111/j.1462-2920.2006.01149.x)

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Authors
  1. Sheilagh Molloy
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Molloy, S. Phenol and the phyllosphere. Nat Rev Microbiol 4, 880–881 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1565

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1565

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