Growth enhancement of ETBE-degrading bacterial consortium with various carbon sources

In this study, we evaluated Ethyl tert-Butyl Ether (ETBE)-degrading consortia growths in the presence of diverse carbon sources (alcohols, alkanes, ether compounds and carbohydrates). In a second step, we studied the consortium ability to maintain its ETBE degradation activity after growing on these carbon sources in presence or in absence of ETBE. The results indicate that the bacterial growth of ETBE-degrading consortia is enhanced three times more with addition of ethanol than with ETBE alone, while maintaining its ability to degrade ETBE. The bacterial yield growth rate was 0.504 d(-1) when growing on ETBE alone, 1.728 d(-1) on both ETBE and ethanol and 2.856 d(-1) on ethanol alone. Both ETBE and ethanol are completely degraded at 8.33 mg L(-1) h(-1) and 18.55 mg L(-1) h(-1) respectively for an initial OD of 0.4. The frequency of ethanol addition, as growth co-substrate, was studied to preserve the ETBE-degrading capacity of the consortium, and to observe the stability of the genetic character of the ether degradation.