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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 1998, p. 3451-3457, Vol. 64, No. 9
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-
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
-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.
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