Mechanisms of Biohalogenation and Dehalogenation

This book is concerned with the presence, biosynthesis and breakdown of various naturally occurring organohalogens. It is biochemically oriented and the current status and future prospects of biochemical halogenation and dehalogenation reactions are discussed. In particular the book focuses on the properties and mechanisms of the different ennzymes involved and there is a detailed discussion on the structure-function relationship between the various dehalogenases. Also the potential and commercial applications of the enzymes involved in the biosynthesis and the use of micro-organisms in the detoxification of soils contaminated with organohalogens are reviewed. The book is the first concise overview on enzymic mechanisms rather than detailed descriptions of the sources and analysis of the halogenated products.

Table of Contents:
A survey of natural organohalogen compounds, G.W. Gribble; halogenated methanes - biological sources and physiological role, D. Harper; organohalogen metabolites of basidiomycetes, J.A. Field et al; novel specific halogenation enzymes from bacteria, K.-H. van Pee et al; on the selectivity of vanadium bromoperoxidase, A. Butler and R.A. Tschirret-Guth; bromoperoxidase from marine red macro-alga, "Corallina pilulifera", Y. Izumi et al; x-ray structures of the native and peroxide form of the vanadium-containing enzyme chloroperoxidase from the fungus "Curvularia inaequalis", A. Messerschmidt et al; applications of (halo)peroxidases, R. Wever; potential applications of haloperodixases in organic chemistry, M.C.R. Franssen; diversity and mechanisms of bacterial dehalogenation reactions, D.B. Janssen et al; kinetics and specificity of haloalkane dehalogenase, J.P. Schanstra and D.B. Janssen; studies on the structure, catalytic mechanism and ancestry of the 4-chlorobenzoate coenzyme A dehalogenase, D. Dunaway-Mariano; 2-haloacid dehalogenase - structure and catalytic mechanism, K. Soda et al; characteristics of DL-2-haloacid dehalogenase, T. Kurihara et al; the haloacetate dehalogenase gene "dehH2" carried on a transposon residing in a plasmid of "Moraxella" sp. B, H. Kawasaki; bacterial dehalogenation of chlorinated methanes, T. Leisinger et al; tetrachloroethene respiration, G. Diekert; production of chiral chloropropanols using stereospecifically assimilating bacteria, N. Kasai and T. Suzuki.