Co-metabolic\nBiotransformation of Bisphenol AF by\na Bisphenol A‑Growing Bacterial Enrichment Culture

The\nfluorinated bisphenol A (2,2-bis[4-hydroxyphenyl]propane, BPA)\nsubstitute bisphenol AF (BPAF) could be more persistent and toxic\nthan BPA, but little is known about its environmental fate. In this\nstudy, we established a co-metabolic BPAF-degrading bacterial enrichment\nculture with BPA as the growth substrate. BPAF degradation by the\nenrichment culture was dependent on BPA, and BPAF could be eliminated\nto below the detection limit with successive additions of BPA. BPAF\nwas mainly degraded via phenolic ring hydroxylation and sequential\nring cleavage, which are minor BPA transformation pathway. Conjugated\nBPAF products were also identified based on the characteristic CF<sub>3</sub><sup>–</sup> fragment and were found to accumulate\nduring BPAF degradation. <i>Sphingopyxis</i> was the key\nBPA and BPAF degrader in the aerobic enrichment cultures, which was\nthe most abundant genera in only BPA-added and BPA and BPAF-added\ncultures and was proven to be able to degrade BPA and BPAF by isolation.\nThe aerobic co-metabolic BPAF degrading community also contain non-BPA\nand BPAF degraders, such as <i>Pandoraea</i>, which may\nplay a supporting role in the community.