Bacterial utilisation of short‐chain primary alkyl sulphate esters

Bacteria isolated from soil, canal water, and sewage utilised short‐chain (C1–C4) primary alkyl sulphate esters as sources of carbon and energy. Butyl and propyl sulphates, but not the C1 and C2 homologues, were degraded by a soil isolate (coryneform rod, strain B1a) which liberated SO2−4 stoicheiometrically from growth‐supporting esters. Cell‐extracts contained a sulphatase active towards C3–C7 primary alkyl sulphates, and this enzyme was presumed responsible for initiating the degradation. A sewage isolate (Xanthobacter sp. E5a) utilised exclusively ethyl sulphate, and a canal water isolate (strain M3C, tentatively assigned to the genus Agrobacterium) used only methyl sulphate. Strains E5a and M3c liberated SO2−4 stoicheiometrically from ethyl and methyl sulphates, respectively, but efforts to detect corresponding sulphatases in cell extracts failed, suggesting that metabolism of the C1 and C2 esters was initiated by an alternative, possibly oxidative, step. A Hyphomicrobium strain isolated from soil grew either aerobically or as a denitrifier in methyl sulphate minimal medium.