Action of a fluoranthene-utilizing bacterial community on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon components of creosote

Technical Report · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:6645311

Mueller, J G; Chapman, P J; Pritchard, P H

Cultures enriched by serial transfer through a mineral salts medium containing fluoranthene were used to establish a stable, 7-membered bacterial community from a sandy soil highly contaminated with coal-tar creosote. This community exhibited an ability to utilize fluoranthene as sole carbon source for growth as demonstrated by increases in protein concentration and changes in absorption spectra when grown on fluoranthene in liquid culture. Biotransformation of other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were verified by demonstrating their disappearance from an artificial PAH mixture using capillary gas chromatography. When grown on fluoranthene as sole carbon source and subsequently exposed to fluoranthene plus 16 additional PAHs typical of those found in creosote, this community transformed all PAHs present in this defined mixture. Continued incubation resulted in extensive degradation of the remaining 4 compounds.

• Research Organization: Environmental Protection Agency, Gulf Breeze, FL (USA). Environmental Research Lab.
• OSTI ID: 6645311
• Report Number(s): PB-90-245721/XAB; EPA--600/J-89/425
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540220* -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
560300 -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ABSORPTION SPECTRA
AROMATICS
BACTERIA
BIODEGRADATION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHROMATOGRAPHY
CONTAMINATION
CREOSOTE
DECOMPOSITION
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
GROWTH
HYDROCARBONS
MICROORGANISMS
MOLECULAR WEIGHT
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOILS
SPECTRA