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. 2019 Oct 8;16(19):3775.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph16193775.

Aerobic and Anaerobic Biodegradation of 1,2-Dibromoethane by a Microbial Consortium under Simulated Groundwater Conditions

Qing Wang  1 , Miaoyan Yang  2   3 , Xin Song  4 , Shiyue Tang  5   6 , Lei Yu  7
Affiliations

Aerobic and Anaerobic Biodegradation of 1,2-Dibromoethane by a Microbial Consortium under Simulated Groundwater Conditions

Qing Wang et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

This study was conducted to explore the potential for 1,2-Dibromoethane (EDB) biodegradation by an acclimated microbial consortium under simulated dynamic groundwater conditions. The enriched EDB-degrading consortium consisted of anaerobic bacteria Desulfovibrio, facultative anaerobe Chromobacterium, and other potential EDB degraders. The results showed that the biodegradation efficiency of EDB was more than 61% at 15 °C, and the EDB biodegradation can be best described by the apparent pseudo-first-order kinetics. EDB biodegradation occurred at a relatively broad range of initial dissolved oxygen (DO) from 1.2 to 5.1 mg/L, indicating that the microbial consortium had a strong ability to adapt. The addition of 40 mg/L of rhamnolipid and 0.3 mM of sodium lactate increased the biodegradation. A two-phase biodegradation scheme was proposed for the EDB biodegradation in this study: an aerobic biodegradation to carbon dioxide and an anaerobic biodegradation via a two-electron transfer pathway of dihaloelimination. To our knowledge, this is the first study that reported EDB biodegradation by an acclimated consortium under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions, a dynamic DO condition often encountered during enhanced biodegradation of EDB in the field.

Keywords: 1,2-dibromoethane; aerobic and anaerobic conditions; biodegradation; co-substrates; microbial consortium; rhamnolipid.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Composition of acclimated microbial consortium at the phylum and genus levels.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) EDB biodegradation kinetics and (b) its kinetic fittings by the pseudo-first-order, (c) pseudo-second-order in microcosms at 15 °C.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effect of (a) temperature, (b) DO, (c) pH, and (d) biomass on EDB biodegradation by the microbial consortium at 25 °C.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effects of (a) glucose, (b) yeast extract, (c) sodium lactate, and (d) rhamnolipid on EDB biodegradation at 25 °C.
Figure 5
Figure 5
By-products of EDB biodegradation by the acclimated microbial consortium.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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