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Organohalide Respiration with Chlorinated Ethenes under Low pH Conditions

Journal Article · · Environmental Science and Technology
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [4]
  1. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Center for Environmental Biotechnology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Joint Inst. for Biological Sciences (JIBS)
  2. Tufts Univ., Medford, MA (United States). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  3. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Center for Environmental Biotechnology, Dept. of Microbiology; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Joint Inst. for Biological Sciences (JIBS)
  4. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Center for Environmental Biotechnology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Dept. of Microbiology, Dept. of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Biosciences Division, and joint Inst. for Biological Sciences (JIBS)

Bioremediation at chlorinated solvent sites often leads to groundwater acidification due to electron donor fermentation and enhanced dechlorination activity. The microbial reductive dechlorination process is robust at circumneutral pH, but activity declines at groundwater pH values below 6.0. Consistent with this observation, the activity of tetrachloroethene (PCE) dechlorinating cultures declined at pH 6.0 and was not sustained in pH 5.5 medium, with one notable exception. Sulf urospirillum multivorans dechlorinated PCE to cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cDCE) in pH 5.5 medium and maintained this activity upon repeated transfers. Microcosms established with soil and aquifer materials from five distinct locations dechlorinated PCE-to-ethene at pH 5.5 and pH 7.2. Dechlorination to ethene was maintained following repeated transfers at pH 7.2, but no ethene was produced at pH 5.5, and only the transfer cultures derived from the Axton Cross Superfund (ACS) microcosms sustained PCE dechlorination to cDCE as a final product. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing of pH 7.2 and pH 5.5 ACS enrichments revealed distinct microbial communities, with the dominant dechlorinator being Dehalococcoides in pH 7.2 and Sulf urospirillum in pH 5.5 cultures. PCE-to-trichloroethene- (TCE-) and PCE-to-cDCEdechlorinating isolates obtained from the ACS pH 5.5 enrichment shared 98.6%, and 98.5% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities to Sulf urospirillum multivorans. Lastly, these findings imply that sustained Dehalococcoides activity cannot be expected in low pH (i.e., ≤ 5.5) groundwater, and organohalide-respiring Sulf urospirillum spp. are key contributors to in situ PCE reductive dechlorination under low pH conditions.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDoD
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1399396
Journal Information:
Environmental Science and Technology, Journal Name: Environmental Science and Technology Journal Issue: 15 Vol. 51; ISSN 0013-936X
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (6)

Targeted detection of Dehalococcoides mccartyi microbial protein biomarkers as indicators of reductive dechlorination activity in contaminated groundwater journal July 2019
Sanierung eines PCE-Schadens in einem makroskopisch oxischen Grundwasserleiter durch Stimulation anaerober dehalogenierender Bakterien journal February 2019
Elucidating the dechlorination mechanism of hexachloroethane by Pd-doped zerovalent iron microparticles in dissolved lactic acid polymers using chromatography and indirect monitoring of iron corrosion journal January 2019
Sustained Dechlorination of Vinyl Chloride to Ethene in Dehalococcoides -Enriched Cultures Grown without Addition of Exogenous Vitamins and at Low pH journal August 2019
Isolation, characterization and bioaugmentation of an acidotolerant 1,2-dichloroethane respiring Desulfitobacterium species from a low pH aquifer journal April 2019
Sustained dechlorination of vinyl chloride to ethene in Dehalococcoides-enriched cultures grown without addition of exogenous vitamins and at low pH posted_content April 2019

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