Fungal metabolism of biphenyl

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Abstract
Cunninghamella elegans grown on Sabouraud dextrose broth transformed biphenyl [a fungicide] to produce 2-, 3- and 4-hydroxybiphenyl, as well as 4,4''-dihydroxybiphenyl as free phenols. A compound tentatively identified as 2,4''-dihydroxybiphenyl was also produced. When 4-hydroxybiphenyl or 2-hydroxybiphenyl replaced biphenyl as the substrate, C. elegans produced 4,4''-dihydroxybiphenyl and 2,5-dihydroxybiphenyl, respectively. The compound identified as 2,4''-dihydroxybiphenyl was produced from both substrates. A survey of fungal species [Absidia sp., Aspergillus niger, C. echinulata, C. japonica Gilbertella sp., Penicillium zonatum, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Syncephalastram racemosum.] known to degrade hydrocarbons revealed 2 spp. that were comparable to C. elegans in their ability to convert biphenyl into free phenols. In addition to free phenolic metabolites, deconjugation experiments indicated that 44% of the known metabolites present in the culture filtrate were present in the form of conjugates. The transformation of biphenyl by C. elegans is apparently similar to that found in mammalian systems.