Although polyacrylamide (PAM) and its derivatives have many useful applications, their release in nature can have impacts on the environment and human health, thus bioremediation approaches for residual PAM are urgently needed. Biodegradation of PAM and its derivatives has been studied only in the last two decades, with most emphasis on acrylamide biodegradation. Microorganisms have been shown to utilize, not only acrylamide, but also PAM and its derivatives as the sole source of nitrogen and/or carbon under aerobic as well as anaerobic conditions. Microbial degradation lowered the molecular weight of the polymer, the viscosity, and the amide nitrogen was degraded to ammonia. Few species belonging to the bacterial genera Enterobacter sp., Azomonas sp., Bacillus sp., Acinetobacter sp., Pseudomonas sp., and Clostridium sp., were able to degrade 16–91% of PAM/HPAM under aerobic or anaerobic conditions. The monomer acrylamide is toxic to most microorganisms, however, some bacteria and fungi could degrade it using amidases that deaminate acrylamide to acrylic acid and ammonium, and further utilize acrylic acid to produce CO2 and water. Some fungi and yeasts could degrade 60–80% of acrylamide. The biodegradation of PAM and its derivatives are initiated by the enzyme amidase, either under aerobic or anaerobic conditions, and are further degraded partially or completely by an array of different enzymes. Future research should focus on elucidating the exact pathways and the enzymes involved in the biodegradation process, especially by fungi and anaerobic bacteria, as well as utilizing PAM-degrading microbes for bioremediation purposes.

中文翻译：

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聚丙烯酰胺及其衍生物的生物降解

尽管聚丙烯酰胺（PAM）及其衍生物具有许多有用的应用，但它们在自然界中的释放会影响环境和人类健康，因此迫切需要用于残留PAM的生物修复方法。仅在最近的二十年中才对PAM及其衍生物的生物降解进行了研究，其中最侧重于丙烯酰胺的生物降解。已经显示，微生物在有氧和无氧条件下不仅利用丙烯酰胺，而且利用PAM及其衍生物作为氮和/或碳的唯一来源。微生物降解降低了聚合物的分子量，粘度，并且酰胺氮被降解为氨。属于Enterobacter sp。，Azomonas sp。，Bacillus sp。，Acinetobacter sp。，Pseudomonas sp。和Clostridium sp。的细菌属很少，在有氧或厌氧条件下能够降解16-91％的PAM / HPAM。单体丙烯酰胺对大多数微生物有毒性，但是，某些细菌和真菌可以使用酰胺酶降解该酰胺酶，该酶将丙烯酰胺脱氨成丙烯酸和铵，并进一步利用丙烯酸生产二氧化碳和水。一些真菌和酵母可能降解60-80％的丙烯酰胺。PAM及其衍生物的生物降解是由酰胺酶在需氧或厌氧条件下引发的，并通过一系列不同的酶进一步部分或完全降解。未来的研究应侧重于阐明生物降解过程中涉及的确切途径和酶，尤其是真菌和厌氧细菌，以及利用PAM降解微生物进行生物修复。