This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by De Wildeman, S.
Right arrow Articles by Verstraete, W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by De Wildeman, S.
Right arrow Articles by Verstraete, W.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by De Wildeman, S.
Right arrow Articles by Verstraete, W.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2003, p. 5643-5647, Vol. 69, No. 9
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.9.5643-5647.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Stereoselective Microbial Dehalorespiration with Vicinal Dichlorinated Alkanes

Stefaan De Wildeman,1 Gabriele Diekert,2 Herman Van Langenhove,3 and Willy Verstraete1*

Laboratory for Microbial Ecology and Technology,1 Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium,3 Institute for Microbiology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, D-07743 Jena, Germany2

Received 10 March 2003/ Accepted 1 July 2003

The suspected carcinogen 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCA) is the most abundant chlorinated C2 groundwater pollutant on earth. However, a reductive in situ detoxification technology for this compound does not exist. Although anaerobic dehalorespiring bacteria are known to catalyze several dechlorination steps in the reductive-degradation pathway of chlorinated ethenes and ethanes, no appropriate isolates that selectively and metabolically convert them into completely dechlorinated end products in defined growth media have been reported. Here we report on the isolation of Desulfitobacterium dichloroeliminans strain DCA1, a nutritionally defined anaerobic dehalorespiring bacterium that selectively converts 1,2-dichloroethane and all possible vicinal dichloropropanes and -butanes into completely dechlorinated end products. Menaquinone was identified as an essential cofactor for growth of strain DCA1 in pure culture. Strain DCA1 converts chiral chlorosubstrates, revealing the presence of a stereoselective dehalogenase that exclusively catalyzes an energy-conserving anti mechanistic dichloroelimination. Unlike any known dehalorespiring isolate, strain DCA1 does not carry out reductive hydrogenolysis reactions but rather exclusively dichloroeliminates its substrates. This unique dehalorespiratory biochemistry has shown promising application possibilities for bioremediation purposes and fine-chemical synthesis.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Faculty of Agriculture and Applied Biological Sciences, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Phone: 32 9 2645976. Fax: 32 9 2646248. E-mail: willy.verstraete{at}ugent.be.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2003, p. 5643-5647, Vol. 69, No. 9
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.9.5643-5647.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Grostern, A., Edwards, E. A. (2009). Characterization of a Dehalobacter Coculture That Dechlorinates 1,2-Dichloroethane to Ethene and Identification of the Putative Reductive Dehalogenase Gene. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 2684-2693 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Marzorati, M., de Ferra, F., Van Raemdonck, H., Borin, S., Allifranchini, E., Carpani, G., Serbolisca, L., Verstraete, W., Boon, N., Daffonchio, D. (2007). A Novel Reductive Dehalogenase, Identified in a Contaminated Groundwater Enrichment Culture and in Desulfitobacterium dichloroeliminans Strain DCA1, Is Linked to Dehalogenation of 1,2-Dichloroethane. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 2990-2999 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Grostern, A., Edwards, E. A. (2006). Growth of Dehalobacter and Dehalococcoides spp. during Degradation of Chlorinated Ethanes. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 428-436 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ritalahti, K. M., Loffler, F. E. (2004). Populations Implicated in Anaerobic Reductive Dechlorination of 1,2-Dichloropropane in Highly Enriched Bacterial Communities. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 4088-4095 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»