Doping für die Umwelt: multivalente Rolle des bakteriellen Steroidabbaus
摘要
Steroid-degrading bacteria are found in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments. During their degradation, complex steroids like cholesterol or bile acids are typically transformed into C19-steroids as intermediates, many of which exhibit endocrine activity on eukaryotic organisms. While this is exploited in pharmaceutical biotechnology, research suggests that bacterial production of these intermediates also has ecological impact in the environment.