Naphthalene Metabolism by Diatoms Isolated from the Kachemak Bay Region of Alaska

Summary: Three pure cultures of diatoms – a Navicula sp., a Nitzschia sp. and a Synedra sp. – grown in the presence of naphthalene at 6 or 12 °C oxidized the naphthalene to ethyl acetate-soluble and water-soluble metabolites. The major ethyl acetate-soluble metabolite was identified as 1-naphthol by gas chromatographic and mass spectral analysis. Experiments with [14C]naphthalene indicated that the extent of naphthalene metabolism ranged from 0·7 to 1·4%.