Bacterial transformation of pyrene in a marine environment

The bacterial transformation of pyrene in an estuary environment, Kitimat Arm, British Columbia, Canada, was studied. A metabolite was separated from marine sediment and pore water samples and was id entified as cis-4,5-dihydroxy-4,5-dihydropyrene, based on a comparison of the metabolite with the authentic standard, by using both high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary gas chromatography with mass spectrometry detection. The presence of this key metabolite of dioxygenase-mediated transformation of pyrene, along with previous pyrene degradation studies using cultures isolated from the same sediment samples, suggests a possible in situ bacterial transformation of pyrene in the Kitimat Arm environment.