Whole genome sequencing of a novel, dichloromethane-fermenting from an enrichment culture.

Bacteria capable of dechlorinating the toxic environmental contaminant dichloromethane (DCM, CHCl) are of great interest for potential bioremediation applications. A novel, strictly anaerobic, DCM-fermenting bacterium, "DCMF", was enriched from organochlorine-contaminated groundwater near Botany Bay, Australia. The enrichment culture was maintained in minimal, mineral salt medium amended with dichloromethane as the sole energy source.

Genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic analyses of Dehalobacter UNSWDHB in response to chloroform.

Organohalide respiring bacteria (ORB) are capable of utilising organohalides as electron acceptors for the generation of cellular energy and consequently play an important role in the turnover of natural and anthropogenically-derived organohalides. In this study, the response of a Dehalobacter sp. strain UNSWDHB to the addition of trichloromethane (TCM) after a 50 h period of its absence (suffocation) was evaluated from a transcriptomic and proteomic perspective.

Isolation and characterization of Dehalobacter sp. strain UNSWDHB capable of chloroform and chlorinated ethane respiration.

Dehalobacter sp. strain UNSWDHB can dechlorinate up to 4 mM trichloromethane at a rate of 0.1 mM per day to dichloromethane and 1,1,2-trichloroethane (1 mM, 0.

Relative contributions of Dehalobacter and zerovalent iron in the degradation of chlorinated methanes.

The role of bacteria and zerovalent iron (Fe(0)) in the degradation of chlorinated solvents in subsurface environments is of interest to researchers and remediation practitioners alike. Fe(0) used in reactive iron barriers for groundwater remediation positively interacted with enrichment cultures containing Dehalobacter strains in the transformation of halogenated methanes. Chloroform transformation and dichloromethane formation was up to 8-fold faster and 14 times higher, respectively, when a Dehalobacter-containing enrichment culture was combined with Fe(0) compared with Fe(0) alone.

Influence of calcium in extracellular DNA mediated bacterial aggregation and biofilm formation.

Calcium (Ca(2+)) has an important structural role in guaranteeing the integrity of the outer lipopolysaccharide layer and cell walls of bacterial cells. Extracellular DNA (eDNA) being part of the slimy matrix produced by bacteria promotes biofilm formation through enhanced structural integrity of the matrix. Here, the concurrent role of Ca(2+) and eDNA in mediating bacterial aggregation and biofilm formation was studied for the first time using a variety of bacterial strains and the thermodynamics of DNA to Ca(2+) binding.

Genome Sequence of Dehalobacter UNSWDHB, a Chloroform-Dechlorinating Bacterium.

The chloroform-respiring bacterium Dehalobacter UNSWDHB was isolated from subsurface soil contaminated with a mixture of organohalides, including chloroform. Here, we present its 3.2-Mb genome.