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Assessment of MTBE biodegradation pathways by two-dimensional isotope analysis in mixed bacterial consortia under different redox conditions

  • Environmental Biotechnology
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Abstract

The fuel oxygenate, methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), although now widely banned or substituted, remains a persistent groundwater contaminant. Multidimensional compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) of carbon and hydrogen is being developed for determining the extent of MTBE loss due to biodegradation and can also potentially distinguish between different biodegradation pathways. Carbon and hydrogen isotopic fractionation factors were determined for MTBE degradation in aerobic and anaerobic laboratory cultures. The carbon isotopic enrichment factor (εC) for aerobic MTBE degradation by a bacterial consortium containing the aerobic MTBE-degrading bacterium, Variovorax paradoxus, was −1.1 ± 0.2‰ and the hydrogen isotope enrichment factor (εH) was −15 ± 2‰. This corresponds to an approximated lambda value (Λ = εH/εC) of 14. Carbon isotope enrichment factors for anaerobic MTBE-degrading enrichment cultures were −7.0 ± 0.2‰ and did not vary based on the original inoculum source, redox condition of the enrichment, or supplementation with syringic acid as a co-substrate. The hydrogen enrichment factors of cultures without syringic acid were insignificant, however a strong hydrogen enrichment factor of −41 ± 3‰ was observed for cultures which were fed syringic acid during MTBE degradation. The Λ = 6 obtained for NYsyr cultures might be diagnostic for the stimulation of anaerobic MTBE degradation by methoxylated compounds by an as yet unknown pathway and mechanism. The stable-isotope enrichment factors determined in this study will enhance the use of CSIA for monitoring anaerobic and aerobic MTBE biodegradation in situ.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded in part by grants from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey Water Resources Research Institute. Laura Youngster's research visit to the Department of Isotope Biogeochemistry was supported by a Transatlantic Research Fellowship from the EC-US Task Force on Biotechnology Research. M. Rosell was supported by a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship (EIF) within Marie Curie Mobility Actions of the European Commission 6th Framework Program (MEIF-CT-2006-039323) and at the moment, she is supported by a Beatriu de Pinós postdoctoral grant (2008 BP-A 00054) from the Autonomous Government of Catalonia (Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca, AGAUR).

We acknowledge Stefanie Finsterbusch for helping with GC-C-IRM-MS analysis of the anaerobic samples. We thank Ursula Günther and Matthias Gehre for technical support at the Stable Isotope Laboratory of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ in Leipzig, Germany.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 76 Lipman Drive, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Laura K. G. Youngster & Max M. Häggblom

  2. Department of Isotope Biogeochemistry, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany

    Mònica Rosell & Hans H. Richnow

Authors
  1. Laura K. G. Youngster
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  2. Mònica Rosell
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  3. Hans H. Richnow
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  4. Max M. Häggblom
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Correspondence to Max M. Häggblom.

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Youngster, L.K.G., Rosell, M., Richnow, H.H. et al. Assessment of MTBE biodegradation pathways by two-dimensional isotope analysis in mixed bacterial consortia under different redox conditions. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 88, 309–317 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-010-2730-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-010-2730-0

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