This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Anderson, J. E. Articles by McCarty, P. L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Anderson, J. E. Articles by McCarty, P. L. Agricola Articles by Anderson, J. E. Articles by McCarty, P. L.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Appl. Environ. Microbiol., Feb 1997, 687-693, Vol 63, No. 2
Copyright © 1997, American Society for Microbiology

Transformation yields of chlorinated ethenes by a methanotrophic mixed culture expressing particulate methane monooxygenase

JE Anderson and PL McCarty
Department of Civil Engineering, Stanford University, California 94305- 4020, USA.

Transformation yields for the aerobic cometabolic degradation of five chlorinated ethenes were determined by using a methanotrophic mixed culture expressing particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO). Transformation yields (expressed as moles of chlorinated ethene degraded per mole of methane consumed) were 0.57, 0.25, 0.058, 0.0019, and 0.00022 for trans-1,2-dichloroethylene (t-DCE), vinyl chloride (VC), cis-1,2-dichloroethylene (c-DCE), trichloroethylene (TCE), and 1,1-dichloroethylene (1,1-DCE), respectively. Degradation of t-DCE and VC was observed only in the presence of formate or methane, sources of reducing energy necessary for cometabolism. The t-DCE and VC transformation yields represented 35 and 15%, respectively, of the theoretical maximum yields, based on reducing-energy availability from methane dissimilation to carbon dioxide, exclusive of all other processes that require reducing energy. The yields for t-DCE and VC were 20 times greater than the yields reported by others for cells expressing soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO). Transformation yields for c-DCE, TCE, and 1,1-DCE were similar to or less than those for cultures expressing sMMO. Although methanotrophic biotreatment systems have typically been designed to incorporate cultures expressing sMMO, these results suggest that pMMO expression may be highly advantageous for degradation of t-DCE or VC. It may also be much easier to maintain pMMO expression in treatment systems, because pMMO is expressed by all methanotrophs whereas sMMO is expressed only by type II methanotrophs under copper-limited conditions.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Erwin, D. P., Erickson, I. K., Delwiche, M. E., Colwell, F. S., Strap, J. L., Crawford, R. L. (2005). Diversity of Oxygenase Genes from Methane- and Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria in the Eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 2016-2025 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ayala-del-Rio, H. L., Callister, S. J., Criddle, C. S., Tiedje, J. M. (2004). Correspondence between Community Structure and Function during Succession in Phenol- and Phenol-plus-Trichloroethene-Fed Sequencing Batch Reactors. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 4950-4960 [Abstract] [Full Text]