Identification of novel pathways for biotransformation of tetrabromobisphenol A by Phanerochaete chrysosporium, combined with mechanism analysis at proteome level

The investigation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) removal by Phanerochaete chrysosporium (P. chrysosporium) was conducted. Under optimal conditions (pH 5, inoculum size of 5% (v/v), initial glucose concentration of 5 g/L, TBBPA concentration of 5 mg/L), >97% of initial TBBPA was removed after 3 days. The TBBPA metabolites, tetrabromobisphenol A glycoside, tribromobisphenol A glycoside and monohydroxylated tetrabromobisphenol A, were identified for the first time by fungi transformation as being produced by glycosylation and oxidative hydroxylation, respectively. Proteome analysis showed that P. chrysosporium significantly upregulated cytochrome P450 monooxygenase, glutathione S-transferases, UDP-glucosyltransferase, O‑methyltransferase and other oxidoreductases for TBBPA oxidative hydroxylation, reductive debromination, glycosylation, O‑methylation and oxidative cleavage for detoxification. Data from cytotoxicity tests with human hepatocellular liver carcinoma (HepG2) confirmed that TBBPA toxicity was effectively decreased by P. chrysosporium treatment. Bioaugmentation with P. chrysosporium significantly improved the removal efficiency of TBBPA in water microcosms to 63.1% within 12 h. This study suggests that P. chrysosporium might be suitable for the removal of TBBPA from contaminated water. [Display omitted] •TBBPA was degraded via glycosylation, debromination, hydroxylation, and cleavage.•New metabolites and degradation pathways of TBBPA by fungi were proposed.•UGTs, GSTs, CYP450 and OMT are upregulated on TBBPA exposure•The metabolite mixture showed a lower cytotoxicity to HepG2 cells than TBBPA.•Bioaugmentation with P. chrysosporium improved TBBPA degradation in river water.