Diversity of Anaerobic Dehalogenation in Estuarine and Marien Sediment.
Abstract
The overall objective of the project was to characterize the activity and interactions of diverse anaerobic microbial communities involved in dehalogenation in marine sediments. Understanding the role of anaerobic respiratory processes and different microbial communities for dehalogenation in marine sediments is essential for developing in-situ remediation technologies, exploiting intrinsic processes and developing the science base for natural attenuation. Our approach has been to examine the role of anaerobic microbial processes, such as sulfidogenesis and iron-reduction, on the activity of dehalogenating microorganisms. Halogenated aromatic compounds were shown to be biodegradable under a variety of redox conditions central to carbon flow in anoxic sediments and soils, and their complete oxidation to CO1 can be coupled to processes such as sulfate reduction, Fe(III)-reduction, denitrification and methanogenesis. Reductive dehalogenation is usually the initial step in metabolism under methanogenic, sulfidogenic and iron-reducing conditions. Microorganisms with the capacity for dehalogenation appear to be widely distributed in anoxic marine environments. Complementary biomolecular tools (16S rRNA and phospholipid fatty acid analysis) were used to examine the community structure and dynamics of the anaerobic dehalogenating consortia and to gain more detailed information about the dehalogenating bacteria.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 31, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA362058
Entities
People
- Max Haggblom