1 mM. The O2 uptake rate was expressed as nanomoles per minute per milligram of protein. The rates were corrected for endogenous oxygen consumption. Cells grown in MSM in the presence of phenanthrene (1 g L−1) were harvested at the mid-exponential phase by centrifugation at 8000 g for 10 min at 4 °C. The pellet was washed twice with 10 volumes of 50 mM potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.2) and resuspended in two volumes of the same buffer. The cell suspension was ultrasonicated (Labsonic-L, Braun Biotech International) for 10 min at 4 °C in 10 pulses and then centrifuged at 20 000 g for 20 min at 4 °C. The supernatant was used as cell-free enzymes for further studies. Protein was measured using the Bradford method

(1976) with bovine serum albumin as the standard. The enzymatic transformations of various substrates were carried out by recording DAPT nmr cell-free-extract-catalyzed changes in UV-visible spectra on a Cary 100 Bio UV-visible spectrophotometer

(Varian Australia Pty Ltd) using 1 cm path-length quartz cuvettes. The sample and reference cuvettes contained 50 mM potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) in 1-mL volume. The sample cuvette also contained either 2-hydroxy-1-naphthoic acid (50 nmol), salicylaldehyde (50 nmol) or catechol (30 nmol). Data were analyzed using the Varian Cary win uv Scan application software. The metabolites were resolved mTOR inhibitor by HPLC using a Shimadzu model LC20-AT pump system (Shimadzu Corp., Kyoto, Japan) equipped with a diode array model SIL-M20A detector and an analytical Phenomenex C18 reverse-phase column (Phenomenex Inc., Torrance, CA) attached to a model SIL-20A autosampler. Metabolites were eluted at a flow rate of 1 mL min−1 and detected at 254 nm. UV-visible absorbance spectra were obtained online. The biodegraded products of phenanthrene were eluted with a methanol–water gradient as follows: an initial gradient

from 50 : 50 to 95 : 5 (v/v) in 45 min, isocratic for the next 10 min and then back to 50 : 50 (v/v) in 5 min, followed by isocratic for further 3 min. Metabolites were identified by comparing their retention times with those of the authentic compounds 17-DMAG (Alvespimycin) HCl analyzed under the same set of conditions. GC-MS analysis of phenanthrene and its degradation products was performed using a Thermo Scientific model TraceGC Ultra column (Thermo Fischer Scientific Inc., NYSE: TMO) with a model PolarisQ mass spectrometer equipped with a 30 m × 0.25 mm (0.25 μm film thickness) DB-5MS capillary column. The ion source was maintained at 230 °C and both the inlet temperature as well as the transfer line temperature were maintained at 280 °C. The temperature program gave a 2-min hold at 70 °C, an increase to 200 °C at 10 °C min−1, followed by hold for 1 min at 200 °C, further increase to 325 °C at 5 °C min−1 and a 15-min hold at 325 °C. The injection volume was 1 μL, and the carrier gas was helium (1 mL min−1). The mass spectrometer was operated at an electron ionization energy of 70 eV.