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Measuring Carbon-based Contaminant Mineralization Using Combined CO2 Flux and Radiocarbon Analyses
Published on: October 21, 2016
Stable carbon isotope fractionation during degradation of dichloromethane by methylotrophic bacteria
Marcell Nikolausz1, Ivonne Nijenhuis, Katja Ziller
1Department of Bioremediation, UFZ-Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle GmbH, Permoserstr. 15, D-04318 Leipzig, Germany.
Abstract:
Stable carbon isotope fractionation during dichloromethane (DCM) degradation by methylotrophic bacteria was investigated under aerobic and nitrate-reducing conditions. The strains studied comprise several Hyphomicrobium strains, Methylobacterium, Methylopila, Methylophilus and Methylorhabdus spp. that are considered to degrade DCM by a glutathione (GSH)-dependent dehalogenase enzyme system in the initial step. The stable carbon isotope fractionation factors (alphaC) of the strains varied under aerobic conditions between 1.043 and 1.071 and under nitrate-reducing conditions between 1.048 and 1.065. Comparison of isotope fractionation under aerobic and nitrate-reducing conditions by individual strains revealed only minor to no differences. The variability in isotope fractionation among strains was found to be related to the polymorphism of the functional genes encoding the DCM dehalogenase.
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