Degradation of Ursolic Acid, a Major Component of Apple Wax, by a Pseudomonad Isolated from Soil

SUMMARY: A Pseudomonas sp. isolated from orchard soil utilized ursolic acid (C30H48O3), a major component of apple wax, as a sole source of carbon. It evolved 14CO2 from [14C]ursolic acid and incorporated the label into all usual cell constituents; it formed a labelled polar metabolite of ursolic acid. Orchard soil thus contains at least one organism which is able to degrade the terpenes of the cuticular wax of plants.