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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2006, p. 1980-1987, Vol. 72, No. 3
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.72.3.1980-1987.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Quantitative PCR Confirms Purity of Strain GT, a Novel Trichloroethene-to-Ethene-Respiring Dehalococcoides Isolate

Youlboong Sung,^1, Kirsti M. Ritalahti,¹ Robert P. Apkarian,³ and Frank E. Löffler^1,2*

School of Civil and Environmental Engineering,¹ School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0512,² Integrated Microscopy and Microanalytical Facility, Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322³

Received 18 October 2005/ Accepted 11 January 2006

A novel Dehalococcoides isolate capable of metabolic trichloroethene (TCE)-to-ethene reductive dechlorination was obtained from contaminated aquifer material. Growth studies and 16S rRNA gene-targeted analyses suggested culture purity; however, the careful quantitative analysis of Dehalococcoides 16S rRNA gene and chloroethene reductive dehalogenase gene (i.e., vcrA, tceA, and bvcA) copy numbers revealed that the culture consisted of multiple, distinct Dehalococcoides organisms. Subsequent transfers, along with quantitative PCR monitoring, yielded isolate GT, possessing only vcrA. These findings suggest that commonly used qualitative 16S rRNA gene-based procedures are insufficient to verify purity of Dehalococcoides cultures. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that strain GT is affiliated with the Pinellas group of the Dehalococcoides cluster and shares 100% 16S rRNA gene sequence identity with two other Dehalococcoides isolates, strain FL2 and strain CBDB1. The new isolate is distinct, as it respires the priority pollutants TCE, cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cis-DCE), 1,1-dichloroethene (1,1-DCE), and vinyl chloride (VC), thereby producing innocuous ethene and inorganic chloride. Strain GT dechlorinated TCE, cis-DCE, 1,1-DCE, and VC to ethene at rates up to 40, 41, 62, and 127 µmol liter^–1 day^–1, respectively, but failed to dechlorinate PCE. Hydrogen was the required electron donor, which was depleted to a consumption threshold concentration of 0.76 ± 0.13 nM with VC as the electron acceptor. In contrast to the known TCE dechlorinating isolates, strain GT dechlorinated TCE to ethene with very little formation of chlorinated intermediates, suggesting that this type of organism avoids the commonly observed accumulation of cis-DCE and VC during TCE-to-ethene dechlorination.

Present address: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6038.