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Appl Environ Microbiol, February 1998, p. 496-503, Vol. 64, No. 2
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Physiological Characterization of a Bacterial Consortium Reductively Dechlorinating 1,2,3- and 1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene

Lorenz Adrian,^1,2,* Werner Manz,² Ulrich Szewzyk,² and Helmut Görisch¹

Fachgebiet Technische Biochemie, Institut für Biotechnologie, Technische Universität Berlin, D-13353 Berlin,¹ and Fachgebiet Ökologie der Mikroorganismen, Institut für Technischen Umweltschutz, Technische Universität Berlin, D-10587 Berlin,² Germany

Received 26 June 1997/Accepted 4 November 1997

A bacterial mixed culture reductively dechlorinating trichlorobenzenes was established in a defined, synthetic mineral medium without any complex additions and with pyruvate as the carbon and energy source. The culture was maintained over 39 consecutive transfers of small inocula into fresh media, enriching the dechlorinating activity. In situ probing with fluorescence-labeled rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes revealed that two major subpopulations within the microbial consortium were phylogenetically affiliated with a sublineage within the Desulfovibrionaceae and the gamma subclass of Proteobacteria. The bacterial consortium grew by fermentation of pyruvate, forming acetate, propionate, CO₂, formate, and hydrogen. Acetate and propionate supported neither the reduction of trichlorobenzenes nor the reduction of sulfate when sulfate was present. Hydrogen and formate were used for sulfate reduction to sulfide. Sulfate strongly inhibited the reductive dechlorination of trichlorobenzenes. However, when sulfate was depleted in the medium due to sulfate reduction, dechlorination of trichlorobenzenes started. Similar results were obtained when sulfite was present in the cultures. Molybdate at a concentration of 1 mM strongly inhibited the dechlorination of trichlorobenzenes. Cultures supplied with molybdate plus sulfate did not reduce sulfate, but dechlorination of trichlorobenzenes occurred. Supplementation of electron-depleted cultures with various electron sources demonstrated that formate was used as a direct electron donor for reductive dechlorination, whereas hydrogen was not.

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^* Corresponding author. Mailing address: FG Technische Biochemie, Sekr. GG1, TU Berlin, Seestr. 13, D-13353 Berlin, Germany. Phone: 49 30 31473119. Fax: 49 30 31473461. E-mail: adri1532{at}mailszrz.zrz.tu-berlin.de.

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