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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 1999, p. 2246-2249, Vol. 65, No. 5
Department of Civil Engineering, University
of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
Received 19 January 1999/Accepted 23 February 1999
Removal of dibenzofuran, dibenzo-p-dioxin, and
2-chlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2-CDD) (10 ppm each) from soil
microcosms to final concentrations in the parts-per-billion range was
affected by the addition of Sphingomonas sp. strain RW1.
Rates and extents of removal were influenced by the density of RW1
organisms. For 2-CDD, the rate of removal was dependent on the content
of soil organic matter (SOM), with half-life values ranging from
5.8 h (0% SOM) to 26.3 h (5.5% SOM).
Diaryl ether compounds include
several chemicals (e.g.,
2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin) that are recognized as
toxic pollutants and that persist in soils, in part, by sorbing onto organic matter (7, 20) and, to a lesser extent, onto mineral surfaces (12). Aerobic bacteria that degrade
dibenzo-p-dioxin (DD), dibenzofuran (DF), carboxydiphenyl
ether, and some halogenated derivatives of these chemicals have been
isolated (9, 11, 16, 17, 26, 32, 33). Researchers have
primarily focused their studies on the activities of these bacteria in
liquid culture (10, 18, 19). In one case, degradation of DD
and DF in soil microcosms to which Sphingomonas sp. strain
RW1 was introduced was observed (25). To determine whether
these and similar bacteria have potential for use in in situ
bioremediation, data concerning the fate and activity of the bacteria
in soils are needed in conjunction with data on the bioavailability of
target chemicals (14). These factors were addressed in this
study by using soil microcosms and Sphingomonas sp. strain
RW1, a bacterium that mineralizes DD and DF as growth substrates and
transforms certain mono- and dichlorinated analogs of these chemicals
as cometabolic reactions (32).
Bacterial growth conditions.
Strain RW1 (no. 6014; German
Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Braunschweig, Germany)
was tagged with a Tn5 suicide donor system, pNMBH20, that
encodes genes for resistance to kanamycin and for
catechol-2,3-dioxygenase (24). This enzyme converts catechol
to muconic acid semialdehyde, a product having a bright yellow color,
and does so at a higher rate than the catechol-2,3-dioxygenase present
in strain RW1. Strain RW1 was routinely grown in the dark (200 rpm,
30°C) by using M9 minimal medium (23) supplemented with
trace elements (31) and DF (1 g/liter) as the sole
substrate. Solid medium contained agar (15 g/liter) with benzoate (5 mM) as the sole substrate plus kanamycin (50 µg/ml).
Soils.
A pale brown, sandy Zimmerman soil (B21 horizon, 18 to
38 cm below surface) was obtained from a previously cultivated field in
the Cedar Creek Natural History Area, Minn. A dark soil (A horizon) was
obtained from Fort Snelling State Park, St. Paul, Minn. Soils were
sieved (2-mm mesh) and stored at 4°C. A quartz sand (Jordan) was
obtained from the Minnesota Frac Sand Co., Jordan, Minn. (Table
1). The sand was sieved to obtain a
fraction with a particle size distribution of 0.15 to 0.6 mm. Cedar
Creek soil was blended with Jordan sand and Fort Snelling soil to
obtain various contents of organic matter, ranging from 0 to 5.5%
total organic carbon (TOC). Mixtures were air dried, and water was
added to a level equal to 60% field capacity.
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Removal of Dibenzofuran,
Dibenzo-p-Dioxin, and
2-Chlorodibenzo-p-Dioxin from Soils Inoculated with
Sphingomonas sp. Strain RW1

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TABLE 1.
Components of soils and sand
Soil microcosm studies. Microcosms consisted of either serum bottles (100 ml) plus soil (20 g [dry weight] of soil) or vials (4 ml) plus soil (2 g [dry weight] of soil). DD, 2-chlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2-CDD) (99% purity; Chemservice, West Chester, Pa.), and DF (Sigma, St. Louis, Mo.) were added to individual microcosms from methanolic stocks 24 h prior to inoculation with strain RW1; strain RW1 does not use methanol as substrate. Bacteria were grown to late log phase, collected by centrifugation (5,000 × g, 20 min), washed twice in saline (0.85% NaCl), and added to the microcosms during mixing. The microcosms were covered with Parafilm and incubated (21°C) in the dark. Densities of strain RW1 and concentrations of DD, DF, and 2-CDD were determined periodically by sacrificing individual microcosms. Data are reported as averages of triplicate determinations.
Bacteria were extracted from soil in an extraction solution (1 ml/g [dry weight] of soil [21]) by agitation on a wrist action shaker (30 min). Extracts were serially diluted in saline; aliquots were then spread on solid medium and incubated (30°C, 7 days). Resultant colonies were sprayed with a solution of catechol (100 mM) to identify strain RW1. The detection limit was 104 CFU/g (dry weight) of soil; the efficiency of recovery was 87%. DD, DF, and 2-CDD were extracted from soil by addition of acetonitrile (2% H3PO4, 1 ml/g [dry weight] of soil) and agitation (60 min). Particles were settled out (10 min), and the supernatant was passed through a PTFE membrane filter (0.2 µm). Aliquots were analyzed by high-pressure liquid chromatography with a Waters LC Module I equipped with a reversed-phase Waters Nova-Pak phenyl column (3.9 by 150 mm; particle size, 4 µm) and a Waters 996 photodiode array detector (
191-320 nm). An isocratic
solvent of acidified, distilled water (0.1%
H3PO4) and acetonitrile (50:50) was used. Injection was by automatic sampler; volumes ranged from 10 to 200 µl.
Peaks and concentrations were identified by comparison to known
standards. Recoveries of DF, DD, and 2-CDD ranged from 89 to 100%;
detection limits were 50 ppb. As appropriate, concentrations of
chemicals were fit to either a pseudo-first-order rate model, dP/dt =
k
P, or a second-order rate
model, dP/dt =
k2BP, where P
is the concentration of substrate, B is the concentration of
biomass, t is time, k
is the
pseudo-first-order rate constant, and k2 is the
second-order rate constant.
Survival of RW1.
Densities of strain RW1 (4 × 108 CFU/g [dry weight] of soil) decreased exponentially
in soils without substrate amendment at a rate (0.156 ± 0.007 day
1) corresponding to a half-life of 4.4 days. In the
presence of DF (10 ppm), the decrease in density was less rapid, at a
rate (0.093 ± 0.034 day
1) corresponding to a
half-life of 7.5 days. The same rate was observed for several initial
densities of the bacterium (4 × 105, 4 × 106, and 4 × 107 CFU/g [dry weight] of
soil). In contrast, the presence of DD (10 ppm) did not affect the
survival of strain RW1; the density of the bacterium decreased at a
rate of 0.148 ± 0.004 day
1, which is similar to
that observed in soils without substrate amendment. Densities of strain
RW1 decreased dramatically in soils containing 2-CDD (10 ppm), at a
rate (0.782 ± 0.045 day
1) corresponding to a
half-life of 0.9 days (data not shown).
Degradation of diaryl ether compounds. DF was removed from soils containing strain RW1 (Fig. 1a). The extent of removal was dependent on the initial density of the bacteria: a density of 4 × 107 CFU/g (dry weight) of soil resulted in complete removal of DF (<50 ppb) in 7 days. At lower densities, removal of DF was incomplete after 28 days of incubation. DD was also removed by strain RW1 (Fig. 1b); however, relatively higher densities of cells were required. At the highest density tested (109 CFU/g [dry weight] of soil), 90% of DD was degraded within 24 h; after 3 days, the concentration of DD was below the detection limit (50 ppb). In comparison to DD, 2-CDD was somewhat more persistent in soil (Fig. 1c).
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1 g of protein
1) is
relatively slower than the turnover rate for DF (562 µmol h
1 g of protein
1) (data from reference
32) and may not be sufficient to prolong survival of
the microorganism.
The survival of strain RW1 was adversely affected by the presence of
2-CDD, suggesting that 2-CCD and/or its metabolites were toxic to the
bacterium. Dioxins are typically neither toxic nor inhibitory to
microorganisms and have no observable effect on soil respiration
(5), microbial activity, and diversity (2). However, during transformation of 2-CDD, 4-chlorocatechol is observed as a dead-end product (32). Chlorinated phenolics are used
as bactericides (27), and chlorocatechols are inhibitors of
key catabolic enzymes (4, 29, 33). Thus, production of
4-chlorocatechol may have accounted for the relatively poor survival of
strain RW1. It appears that by producing toxic intermediates, diaryl ether-degrading microorganisms could be negatively impacted during attempts to elicit in situ bioremediation. Judicious engineering of
microorganisms for complete mineralization of diaryl ethers, as has
been suggested previously (14, 32), may offer a way around
this dilemma.
It is apparent that SOM controlled the rate at which 2-CDD was removed
from soil by strain RW1. Bioavailability of hydrophobic pollutants can
potentially limit degradation of organic chemicals in soils (1, 3,
30) and is typically controlled by physicochemical processes
including diffusion, sorption/desorption, and dissolution (6, 22,
28). Relatively nonpolar chemicals such as dioxins primarily
partition into SOM rather than mineral surfaces (7, 8, 13,
20). The correlation between increasing TOC and decreasing rates
of removal of 2-CDD suggests that the rate of degradation was limited
by sorption/desorption processes. Thus, as TOC content increases, the
lower bioavailability of 2-CDD requires that the amount of biomass be
increased to elicit effective degradation (Fig. 3). For soils with
elevated levels of TOC, this means that the relative cost of
remediation via bioaugmentation may be higher, due to the necessity of
adding relatively more microorganisms.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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We thank R. Wittich for RW1, N. McClure for pNMBH20, and the Research Analytical Laboratory, University of Minnesota, for soil analyses.
This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (BCS-9318788). Financial support for R.U.H. was provided in part by a University of Minnesota Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship.
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FOOTNOTES |
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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Civil Engineering, 122 Civil Engineering Building, University of Minnesota, 500 Pillsbury Dr., S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455. Phone: (612) 625-8582. Fax: (612) 626-7750. E-mail: dwyer003{at}tc.umn.edu.
Present address: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,
Environmental Restoration Division, Livermore, CA 94550.
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