Dehalococcoides abundance and alternate electron acceptor effects on large, flow-through trichloroethene dechlorinating columns

Study on the community structure and function of anaerobic granular sludge under trichloroethylene stress

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is one of the most common groundwater pollutants. It is carcinogenic, teratogenic, mutagenic and poses a serious threat to human health and the environment. Therefore, reducing the environmental toxicity of TCE is of great significance. Anaerobic sludge was cultured and acclimated in an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor in this study. The Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) concentration of the influent was approximately 2500 mg L^-1, and the TCE concentration of the influent ranged from 1.46 mg L^-1 to 73 mg L^-1. After biodegradation of the anaerobic microflora, the COD removal rate was approximately 85%, and the TCE removal rate was over 85%. The microbial community of anaerobic sludge was analysed by 16 S rDNA clone libray and 454 high-throughput sequencing. Through analysis of the sequencing results, we found that there were a variety of acid-forming bacteria, anaerobic dechlorinating bacteria, and methanogenic bacteria. Based on the analysis of microflora function, it was speculated that the TCE metabolic pathway took place in UASB reactors. Desulfovibrio and Syntrophobacter provided an anaerobic environment, and acid-forming bacteria metabolise organic compounds into hydrogen. With Dehalobacter and Geobacter, TCE as an electron acceptor is dechlorinated and reduced under the anaerobic environment, in which hydrogen acts as an electron donor. By this, we clarified the metabolic pathway for improving TCE bioremediation.

Increasing electron donor concentration does not accelerate complete microbial reductive dechlorination in contaminated sediment with native organic carbon

Experiments with Fe(III)-rich, chloroethene-contaminated sediment demonstrated that trichloroethylene (TCE) and vinyl chloride (VC) were completely reduced to ethene regardless of whether electron donor(s) were added at 1 × stoichiometry or 10 × stoichiometry relative to all-electron acceptors. Unamended controls uniformly reduced TCE to ethene with a mean time to complete dechlorination (operationally defined as the presence of stoichiometric ethene production) of 79 days. Adding 1 × and 10 × acetate hindered the rate and extent of TCE and VC reduction relative to unamended controls, with several only partially reduced when the experiments were terminated. Adding high molecular mass (soybean oil derivative) substrates did not increase microbial reductive dechlorination relative to unamended incubations, and in many cases, hindered microbial dechlorination in favor of methanogenesis. The mean time to complete dechlorination was comparable between low (× 1) and high (× 10) electron donor concentration for all lipid-based electron donors tested. Those tested included Newman Zone® Standard without sodium lactate (96 vs. 75 days, respectively), CAP 18 ME (85 vs. 94 days, respectively), EOS 598B42 (68 vs. 72 days, respectively), and acetate (134 vs. 125 days, respectively). These data suggest that the addition of an electron donor does not always increase the rate and extent of reductive dechlorination but will increase costs. In particular, increasing the concentration of electron donors higher than the stoichiometric demand only decreased complete microbial reductive dechlorination, which is the opposite of most standard "more time and more electrons" approaches. These data argue that site-specific electron donor demands must be evaluated, and in some cases, a monitored natural attenuation (MNA) approach is most favorable.

Bioenhanced back diffusion and population dynamics of Dehalococcoides mccartyi strains in heterogeneous porous media

Diffusion, sorption-desorption, and biodegradation influence chlorinated solvent storage in, and release (mass flux) from, low-permeability media. Although bioenhanced dissolution of non-aqueous phase liquids has been well-documented, less attention has been directed towards biologically-mediated enhanced diffusion from low-permeability media. This process was investigated using a heterogeneous aquifer cell, packed with 20-30 mesh Ottawa sand and lenses of varying permeability (1.0 × 10^-12-1.2 × 10^-11 m²) and organic carbon (OC) content (<0.1%-2%), underlain by trichloroethene (TCE)-saturated clay. Initial contaminant loading was attained by flushing with 0.5 mM TCE. Total chlorinated ethenes removal by hydraulic flushing was then compared for abiotic and bioaugmented systems (KB-1® SIREM; Guelph, ON). A numerical model incorporating coupled diffusion and (de)sorption facilitated quantification of bio-enhanced TCE release from low-permeability lenses, which ranged from 6% to 53%. Although Dehalococcoides mccartyi (Dhc) 16S rRNA genes were uniformly distributed throughout the porous media, strain-specific distribution, as indicated by the reductive dehalogenase (RDase) genes vcrA, bvcA, and tceA, was influenced by physical and chemical heterogeneity. Cells harboring the bvcA gene comprised 44% of the total RDase genes in the lower clay layer and media surrounding high OC lenses, but only 2% of RDase genes at other locations. Conversely, cells harboring the vcrA gene comprised 50% of RDase genes in low-permeability media compared with 85% at other locations. These results demonstrate the influence of microbial processes on back diffusion, which was most evident in regions with pronounced contrasts in permeability and OC content. Bioenhanced mass transfer and changes in the relative abundance of Dhc strains are likely to impact bioremediation performance in heterogeneous systems.

Structural dynamics and transcriptomic analysis of Dehalococcoides mccartyi within a TCE-Dechlorinating community in a completely mixed flow reactor

A trichloroethene (TCE)-dechlorinating community (CANAS) maintained in a completely mixed flow reactor was established from a semi-batch enrichment culture (ANAS) and was monitored for 400 days at a low solids retention time (SRT) under electron acceptor limitation. Around 85% of TCE supplied to CANAS (0.13 mmol d^-1) was converted to ethene at a rate of 0.1 mmol d^-1, with detection of low production rates of vinyl chloride (6.8 × 10^-3 mmol d^-1) and cis-dichloroethene (2.3 × 10^-3 mmol d^-1). Two distinct Dehalococcoides mccartyi strains (ANAS1 and ANAS2) were stably maintained at 6.2 ± 2.8 × 10⁸ cells mL^-1 and 5.8 ± 1.2 × 10⁸ cells mL^-1, respectively. Electron balance analysis showed 107% electron recovery, in which 6.1% were involved in dechlorination. 16 S rRNA amplicon sequencing revealed a structural regime shift between ANAS and CANAS while maintaining robust TCE dechlorination due to similar relative abundances of D. mccartyi and functional redundancy among each functional guild supporting D. mccartyi activity. D. mccartyi transcriptomic analysis identified the genes encoding for ribosomal RNA and the reductive dehalogenases tceA and vcrA as the most expressed genes in CANAS, while hup and vhu were the most critical hydrogenases utilized by D. mccartyi in the community.

Dehalococcoides and general bacterial ecology of differentially trichloroethene dechlorinating flow-through columns

The diversity of Dehalococcoides mccartyi (Dhc) and/or other organohalide respiring or associated microorganisms in parallel, partial, or complete trichloroethene (TCE) dehalogenating systems has not been well described. The composition of Dhc populations and the associated bacterial community that developed over 7.5 years in the top layer (0-10 cm) of eight TCE-fed columns were examined using pyrosequencing. Columns biostimulated with one of three carbon sources, along with non-stimulated controls, developed into complete (ethene production, whey amended), partial (cis-dichloroethene (DCE) and VC, an emulsified oil with nonionic surfactant), limited (<5 % cis-DCE and 95 % TCE, an emulsified oil), and non- (controls) TCE dehalogenating systems. Bioaugmentation of one column of each treatment with Bachman Road enrichment culture did not change Dhc populations nor the eventual degree of TCE dehalogenation. Pyrosequencing revealed high diversity among Dhc strains. There were 13 OTUs that were represented by more than 1000 sequences each. Cornell group-related populations dominated in complete TCE dehalogenating columns, while Pinellas group related Dhc dominated in all other treatments. General microbial communities varied with biostimulation, and three distinct microbial communities were established: one each for whey, oils, and control treatments. Bacterial genera, including Dehalobacter, Desulfitobacterium, Sulfurospirillum, Desulfuromonas, and Geobacter, all capable of partial TCE dehalogenation, were abundant in the limited and partial TCE dehalogenating systems. Dhc strain diversity was wider than previously reported and their composition within the community varied significantly depending on the nature of the carbon source applied and/or changes in the Dhc associated partners that fostered different biogeochemical conditions across the columns.