Journal article
Aerobic Vinyl Chloride Metabolism in Groundwater Microcosms by Methanotrophic and Etheneotrophic Bacteria
Environmental science & technology, Vol.50(7), pp.3617-3625
04/05/2016
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b05798
PMID: 26918370
Abstract
Vinyl chloride (VC) is a carcinogen generated in groundwater by reductive dechlorination of chloroethenes. Under aerobic conditions, etheneotrophs oxidize ethene and VC, while VC-assimilators can use VC as their sole source of carbon and energy. Methanotrophs utilize only methane but can oxidize ethene to epoxyethane and VC to chlorooxirane. Microcosms were constructed with groundwater from the Carver site in MA containing these three native microbial types. Methane, ethene, and VC were added to the microcosms singly or as mixtures. In the absence of VC, ethene degraded faster when methane was also present. We hypothesized that methanotroph oxidation of ethene to epoxyethane competed with their use of methane, and that epoxyethane stimulated the activity of starved etheneotrophs by inducing the enzyme alkene monooxygenase. We then developed separate enrichment cultures of Carver methanotrophs and etheneotrophs, and demonstrated that Carver methanotrophs can oxidize ethene to epoxyethane, and that starved Carver etheneotrophs exhibit significantly reduced lag time for ethene utilization when epoxyethane is added. In our groundwater microcosm tests, when all three substrates were present, the rate of VC removal was faster than with either methane or ethene alone, consistent with the idea that methanotrophs stimulate etheneotroph destruction of VC.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Aerobic Vinyl Chloride Metabolism in Groundwater Microcosms by Methanotrophic and Etheneotrophic Bacteria
- Creators
- Margaret Findlay - Bioremediation Consulting , c/o 55 Halcyon Road, Newton Massachusetts 02459, United StatesDonna F Smoler - Bioremediation Consulting , c/o 55 Halcyon Road, Newton Massachusetts 02459, United StatesSamuel Fogel - Bioremediation Consulting , c/o 55 Halcyon Road, Newton Massachusetts 02459, United StatesTimothy E Mattes - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Iowa , 4105 Seamans Center, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, United States
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Environmental science & technology, Vol.50(7), pp.3617-3625
- Publisher
- United States
- DOI
- 10.1021/acs.est.5b05798
- PMID
- 26918370
- ISSN
- 0013-936X
- eISSN
- 1520-5851
- Grant note
- DOI: 10.13039/100000005, name: U.S. Department of Defense, award: ER-1683
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 04/05/2016
- Academic Unit
- Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Record Identifier
- 9983992075102771
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