Successful bioremediation of sites contaminated with chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons, such as trichloroethene, depends on the presence and non-inhibition of specific vinyl-chloride respiring Dehalococcoides mcartyi strains.
More...Successful bioremediation of sites contaminated with chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons, such as trichloroethene, depends on the presence and non-inhibition of specific vinyl-chloride respiring Dehalococcoides mcartyi strains. However, co-contamination with chloroethenes and chloroethanes is common in polluted groundwater, and the effects of such a mixture of chlorinated compounds on the fitness of the vinyl-chloride degrading Dehalococcoides mccartyi population is unknown. To understand the impact of exposure to chloroethene / chloroethane co-contamination on the metabolism, kinetics, and population structure, we investigate the characteristics of a Dehalococcoides-containing microbial consortium grown in a continuously-fed reactor system under changing chloroethene/ethane influent conditions. The goal of this metagenomic sequencing project is to define the initial microbial consortium, and identify the different Dehalococcoides mccartyi subpopulations present, before it is exposed to varying chloroethene / chloroethane concentrations. The inoculum for this study comes from the EV5L reactor, which has been maintained at Oregon State University for the past eight years. Originally, the EV5L reactor had been inoculated with sediments from a contaminated site in Corvallis Oregon, USA.
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