Benzonitrile Pathway Map

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This pathway was started by Fangyi Zhao and completed by Ryan McLeish and Dong Jun Oh University of Minnesota.

Benzonitrile is used as a solvent and chemical intermediate in the pharmaceutical, dyestuffs and rubber industries. It is highly toxic and harmful in contact with skin. The microbial degradation of benzonitrile proceeds through two enzymatic pathways. One is the nitrilase pathway, in which nitrilase directly converts benzonitrile to benzoate and ammonia (Kobayashi et al., 1989). In the other pathway, this conversion proceeds by a combination of nitrile hydratase and amidase (Kobayashi et al., 1993).

The following is a text-format benzonitrile pathway map. Organisms which can initiate the pathway are given, but other organisms may a lso carry out later steps. Follow the links for more information on compounds or reactions. This map is also available in graphic (5k) format. 

 
             Benzonitrile   Benzonitrile <------ from the Thiobenzamide pathway
              Rhodococcus    Klebsiella
            rhodochrous J1   pneumoniae
                   |              |
                   |              |
                   |              | nitrile hydratase
                   |              |
         nitrilase |              |
                   |              v
                   |          Benzamide
                   |              |
                   |              |
                   |              | amidase
                   |              |
                   |              |
                   v              |
                Benzoate <--------+
                   |
                   |
                   |
                   |
                   v
                to the
           Benzoate Pathway
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Page Author(s): Fangyi Zhao, Ryan McLeish and Dong Jun Oh

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