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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 1998, p. 3451-3457, Vol. 64, No. 9
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Effect of Nitrogen Source on Growth and Trichloroethylene Degradation by Methane-Oxidizing Bacteria

Kung-Hui Chu and Lisa Alvarez-Cohen*

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720-1710

Received 20 January 1998/Accepted 1 July 1998

The effect of nitrogen source on methane-oxidizing bacteria with respect to cellular growth and trichloroethylene (TCE) degradation ability were examined. One mixed chemostat culture and two pure type II methane-oxidizing strains, Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b and strain CAC-2, which was isolated from the chemostat culture, were used in this study. All cultures were able to grow with each of three different nitrogen sources: ammonia, nitrate, and molecular nitrogen. Both M. trichosporium OB3b and strain CAC-2 showed slightly lower net cellular growth rates and cell yields but exhibited higher methane uptake rates, levels of poly-beta -hydroxybutyrate (PHB) production, and naphthalene oxidation rates when grown under nitrogen-fixing conditions. The TCE-degrading ability of each culture was measured in terms of initial TCE oxidation rates and TCE transformation capacities (mass of TCE degraded/biomass inactivated), measured both with and without external energy sources. Higher initial TCE oxidation rates and TCE transformation capacities were observed in nitrogen-fixing mixed, M. trichosporium OB3b, and CAC-2 cultures than in nitrate- or ammonia-supplied cells. TCE transformation capacities were found to correlate with cellular PHB content in all three cultures. The results of this study suggest that the nitrogen-fixing capabilities of methane-oxidizing bacteria can be used to select for high-activity TCE degraders for the enhancement of bioremediation in fixed-nitrogen-limited environments.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 726 Davis Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-1710. Phone: (510) 643-5969. Fax: (510) 642-7483. E-mail: alvarez{at}ce.berkeley.edu.


Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 1998, p. 3451-3457, Vol. 64, No. 9
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Chu, K.-H., Alvarez-Cohen, L. (1999). Evaluation of Toxic Effects of Aeration and Trichloroethylene Oxidation on Methanotrophic Bacteria Grown with Different Nitrogen Sources. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 65: 766-772 [Abstract] [Full Text]