Uptake of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons across Bacterial Membrane

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are important pollutants, whose biodegradation and bioremediation with microorganisms are the promising ways to clean environments and reduce their exposure to humans. Although the transportation of PAHs across bacterial membrane is the first step forwards their biodegradation, it receives less attention. In this mini-review, we explore which transport system for uptake of carbon sources can serve for uptake of PAHs in bacteria, and try to uncover some patterns in their transport mechanisms. Collectively, 1) the major carbohydrate transport system, PTS, is unlikely to take PAHs because PAHs lack a hydroxy group for phosphorylation but aromatic acids are good candidates; 2) PAHs could probably go through H+ symporters, especially the low-molecular-weight PAHs, which are partially dissolvable in water; 3) it is unlikely that PAHs can produce chemiosmotic ion gradients to go through uniporters; and 4) antiporters could serve as transporters to transport PAHs across bacterial membrane only after the metabolism of PAHs generates extra H+ inside cell. Accordingly, the basic mechanism for uptake of PAHs is whether they can donate H+ in order to generate an electrochemical proton gradient to go through symporters.