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Anaerobic Microbial Degradation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: A Comprehensive Review

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Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology Volume 251

Part of the book series: Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology ((RECT,volume 251))

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of hazardous organic contaminants that are widely distributed in nature, and many of them are potentially toxic to humans and other living organisms. Biodegradation is the major route of detoxification and removal of PAHs from the environment. Aerobic biodegradation of PAHs has been the subject of extensive research; however, reports on anaerobic biodegradation of PAHs are so far limited. Microbial degradation of PAHs under anaerobic conditions is difficult because of the slow growth rate of anaerobes and low energy yield in the metabolic processes. Despite the limitations, some anaerobic bacteria degrade PAHs under nitrate-reducing, sulfate-reducing, iron-reducing, and methanogenic conditions. Anaerobic biodegradation, though relatively slow, is a significant process of natural attenuation of PAHs from the impacted anoxic environments such as sediments, subsurface soils, and aquifers. This review is intended to provide comprehensive details on microbial degradation of PAHs under various reducing conditions, to describe the degradation mechanisms, and to identify the areas that should receive due attention in further investigations.

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Abbreviations

ΔG°′:

Standard Gibbs free energy change

1,2,3,4-THNA:

1,2,3,4-Tetrahydro-2-naphthoic acid

1-MN:

1-Methylnaphthalene

1-NA:

1-Naphthoic acid

2-DMNA:

2-Dimethylnaphthalene

2-MN:

2-Methylnaphthalene

2-NA:

2-Naphthoic acid

5,6,7,8-THNA:

5,6,7,8-Tetrahydro-2-naphthoic acid

ADP:

Adenosine diphosphate

ATP:

Adenosine triphosphate

BaP:

Benzo(a)pyrene

Bcr:

Benzoyl-CoA reductase

BESA:

Bromoethane sulfonic acid

Bns:

Beta-oxidation of naphthyl-2-methylsuccinate

Bss:

Benzylsuccinate synthase

BTEX:

Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene

CoA:

Coenzyme A

DO:

Dissolved oxygen

E0′:

Standard reduction potential

FBR:

Fluidized bed reactor

GC:

Gas chromatography

H2O2:

Hydrogen peroxide

HH-2-NA:

Hexahydro-2-naphthoic acid

HMW:

High molecular weight

kDa:

Kilodalton

LC:

Liquid chromatography

LC-ESI-MS-MS:

Liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

LiP:

Lignin peroxidase

LMW:

Low molecular weight

logKOW:

Octanol-water partition coefficient

MGP:

Manufactured gas plant sites

MNA:

Methylnaphthoic acid

MnP:

Manganese-dependent peroxidase

MS:

Mass spectrometry

Ncr:

Naphthoyl-CoA reductase

NMeS:

Naphthyl-2-methylenesuccinic acid

Nms:

2-Napthylmethylsuccinate synthase

NMS:

Naphthyl-2-methylsuccinic acid

NRB:

Nitrate-reducing bacteria

OYE:

Old yellow enzyme

PAHs:

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

POP:

Persistent organic pollutants

PpcA:

Phenylphosphate carboxylase

Q-TOF-MS:

Quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

rRNA:

Ribosomal RNA

SOM:

Soil organic matter

SRB:

Sulfate-reducing bacteria

TCA:

Tricarboxylic acid

TEA:

Terminal electron acceptor

THNA:

Tetrahydronaphthoic acid

TOC:

Total organic carbon

T-RFLP:

Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism

UbiD:

3-Polyprenyl-4-hydroxybenzoate decarboxylase

US EPA:

United States Environmental Protection Agency

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Acknowledgment

Kartik Dhar is grateful to the University of Newcastle for UNIPRS and UNRS central scholarship and to the University of Chittagong, Chittagong 4331, Bangladesh, for granting study leave.

Conflict of Interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Global Centre for Environmental Remediation (GCER), Faculty of Science, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia

    Kartik Dhar, Suresh R. Subashchandrabose, Kannan Krishnan & Mallavarapu Megharaj

  2. Department of Microbiology, University of Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh

    Kartik Dhar

  3. Formerly Department of Microbiology, Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Anantapuramu, India

    Kadiyala Venkateswarlu

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  1. Kartik Dhar
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  2. Suresh R. Subashchandrabose
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  3. Kadiyala Venkateswarlu
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  4. Kannan Krishnan
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  5. Mallavarapu Megharaj
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Correspondence to Mallavarapu Megharaj .

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Dhar, K., Subashchandrabose, S.R., Venkateswarlu, K., Krishnan, K., Megharaj, M. (2019). Anaerobic Microbial Degradation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: A Comprehensive Review. In: de Voogt, P. (eds) Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology Volume 251. Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, vol 251. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/398_2019_29

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