Transformation of tetrachloromethane to dichloromethane and carbon dioxide by Acetobacterium woodii

Journal Article · Tue Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1988 · Applied and Environmental Microbiology; (USA)

OSTI ID:5086142

Egli, C; Tschan, T; Scholtz, R; Cook, A M; Leisinger, T ^[1]

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1. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (Switzerland)

Five anaerobic bacteria were tested for their abilities to transform tetrachloromethane so that information about enzymes involved in reductive dehalogenations of polychloromethanes could be obtained. Cultures of the sulfate reducer Desulfobacterium autotrophicum transformed some 80 {mu}M tetrachloromethane to trichloromethane and a small amount of dichloromethane in 18 days under conditions of heterotrophic growth. The acetogens Acetobacterium woodii and Clostridium thermoaceticum in fructose-salts and glucose-salts media, respectively, degraded some 80 {mu}M tetrachloromethane completely within 3 days. Trichloromethane accumulated as a transient intermediate, but the only chlorinated methanes recovered at the end of the incubation were 8 {mu}M dichloromethane and traces of chloromethane. Desulfobacter hydrogenophilus and an autotrophic, nitrate-reducing bacterium were unable to transform tetrachloromethane. Reduction of chlorinated methanes was thus observed only in the organisms with the acetyl-coenzyme A pathway. Experiments with ({sup 14}C)tetrachloromethane were done to determine the fate of this compound in the acetogen A. woodii. Radioactivity in an 11-day heterotrophic culture was largely (67%) recovered in CO{sub 2}, acetate, pyruvate, and cell material. In experiments with cell suspensions to which ({sup 14}C)tetrachloromethane was added, {sup 14}CO{sub 2} appeared within 20 s as the major transformation product. A. woodii thus catalyzes reductive dechlorinations and transforms tetrachloromethane to CO{sub 2} by a series of unknown reactions.

• OSTI ID: 5086142
• Journal Information: Applied and Environmental Microbiology; (USA), Journal Name: Applied and Environmental Microbiology; (USA) Vol. 54:11; ISSN 0099-2240; ISSN AEMID
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540311 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Basic Studies-- Radiometric Techniques-- (1990-)
540320* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
ANAEROBIC CONDITIONS
BACTERIA
BIODEGRADATION
BIOLOGICAL PATHWAYS
CARBON 14 COMPOUNDS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHLORINATED ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS
DECOMPOSITION
DEHALOGENATION
ENZYME ACTIVITY
HALOGENATED ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
LABELLED COMPOUNDS
METABOLISM
MICROORGANISMS
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
REDUCTION
TRACER TECHNIQUES