Aerobic biodegradation of methyl tert-butyl ether by aquifer bacteria from leaking underground storage tank sites.

Appl Environ Microbiol

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.

Published: December 2001

The potential for aerobic methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) degradation was investigated with microcosms containing aquifer sediment and groundwater from four MTBE-contaminated sites characterized by oxygen-limited in situ conditions. MTBE depletion was observed for sediments from two sites (e.g., 4.5 mg/liter degraded in 15 days after a 4-day lag period), whereas no consumption of MTBE was observed for sediments from the other sites after 75 days. For sediments in which MTBE was consumed, 43 to 54% of added [U-(14)C]MTBE was mineralized to (14)CO(2). Molecular phylogenetic analyses of these sediments indicated the enrichment of species closely related to a known MTBE-degrading bacterium, strain PM1. At only one site, the presence of water-soluble gasoline components significantly inhibited MTBE degradation and led to a more pronounced accumulation of the metabolite tert-butyl alcohol. Overall, these results suggest that the effects of oxygen and water-soluble gasoline components on in situ MTBE degradation will vary from site to site and that phylogenetic analysis may be a promising predictor of MTBE biodegradation potential.

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC93377PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/AEM.67.12.5824-5829.2001DOI Listing

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