O-methylation of chlorinated phenols in the genus Rhodococcus

The ability to O-methylate chlorinated phenols and phenol derivatives in the genus Rhodococcus was studied. Several species and strains O-methylated chlorophenols to the corresponding anisoles, namely R. equi, R. erythropolis, R. rhodochrous and Rhodococcus sp. strains P1 and An 117. The ability for a strain to O-methylate chlorophenols did not require that it had been isolated from an environment containing a chlorinated aromatic compound O-methylation activity was stimulated by the presence of carbohydrate. All strains preferentially O-methylated a substrate with the hydroxyl group flanked by two chlorine substituents.