Microbial diversity in a hydrocarbon- and chlorinated-solvent-contaminated aquifer undergoing intrinsic bioremediation

Journal Article · Thu Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1998 · Applied and Environmental Microbiology

OSTI ID:675510

Dojka, M A; Hugenholtz, P; Pace, N R ^[1]; Haack, S K ^[2]

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1. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
2. Geological Survey, Lansing, MI (United States)

A culture-independent molecular phylogenetic approach was used to survey constituents of microbial communities associated with an aquifer contaminated with hydrocarbons and chlorinated solvents undergoing intrinsic bioremediation. Samples were obtained from three redox zones: methanogenic, methanogenic-sulfate reducing, and iron or sulfate reducing. Small-subunit rRNA genes were amplified directly from aquifer material DNA by PCR with universally conserved or Bacteria- or Archaea-specific primers and were cloned. A total of 812 clones were screened by restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP), approximately 50% of which were unique. All RFLP types that occurred more than once in the libraries, as well as many of the unique types, were sequenced. A total of 104 sequence types were determined. Of the 94 bacterial sequence types, 10 have no phylogenetic association with known taxonomic divisions and are phylogenetically grouped in six novel division level groups; 21 belong to four recently described candidate divisions with no cultivated representatives; and 63 are phylogenetically associated with 10 well-recognized divisions. The physiology of two particularly abundant sequence types obtained from the methanogenic zone could be inferred from their phylogenetic association with groups of microorganisms with a consistent phenotype.

• Sponsoring Organization: National Insts. of Health, Bethesda, MD (United States); USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• OSTI ID: 675510
• Journal Information: Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Journal Name: Applied and Environmental Microbiology Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 64; ISSN AEMIDF; ISSN 0099-2240
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AQUIFERS
BIODEGRADATION
CHLORINATED ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS
GENETIC VARIABILITY
HYDROCARBONS
REMEDIAL ACTION