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  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Intrinsic biodegradation potential of aromatic hydrocarbons in an alluvial aquifer - Potentials and limits of signature metabolite analysis and two stable isotope-based techniques
    (2011)
    Morasch, Barbara
    ;
    ; ;
    Temime, B
    ;
    Höhener, Patrick
    Three independent techniques were used to assess the biodegradation of monoaromatic hydrocarbons and low-molecular weight polyaromatic hydrocarbons in the alluvial aquifer at the site of a former cokery (Flémalle, Belgium).
    Firstly, a stable carbon isotope-based field method allowed quantifying biodegradation of monoaromatic compounds in situ and confirmed the degradation of naphthalene. No evidence could be deduced from stable isotope shifts for the intrinsic biodegradation of larger molecules such as methylnaphthalenes or acenaphthene. Secondly, using signature metabolite analysis, various intermediates of the anaerobic degradation of (poly-) aromatic and heterocyclic compounds were identified. The discovery of a novel metabolite of acenaphthene in groundwater samples permitted deeper insights into the anaerobic biodegradation of almost persistent environmental contaminants. A third method, microcosm incubations with 13C-labeled compounds under in situ-like conditions, complemented techniques one and two by providing quantitative information on contaminant biodegradation independent of molecule size and sorption properties. Thanks to stable isotope labels, the sensitivity of this method was much higher compared to classical microcosm studies. The 13C-microcosm approach allowed the determination of first-order rate constants for 13C-labeled benzene, naphthalene, or acenaphthene even in cases when degradation activities were only small. The plausibility of the third method was checked by comparing 13C-microcosm-derived rates to field-derived rates of the first approach. Further advantage of the use of 13C-labels in microcosms is that novel metabolites can be linked more easily to specific mother compounds even in complex systems. This was achieved using alluvial sediments where 13C-acenaphthyl methylsuccinate was identified as transformation product of the anaerobic degradation of acenaphthene.
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Evaluating the fate of chlorinated ethenes in streambed sediments by combining stable isotope, geochemical and microbial methods
    (2009)
    Abe, Yumiko
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    Aravena, Ramon
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    ;
    Parker, Beth
    ;
    The occurrence of chlorinated ethene transformation in a streambed was investigated using concentration and carbon isotope data from water samples taken at different locations and depths within a 15×25 ms tudy area across which a tetrachloroethene (PCE) plume discharges. Furthermore, it was evaluated how the degree of transformation is related to groundwater discharge rates, redox conditions, solid organic matter content (SOM) and microbial factors. Groundwater discharge rates were quantified based on streambed temperatures, and redox conditions using concentrations of dissolved redox-sensitive species. The degree of chlorinated ethene transformation was highly variable in space from no transformation to transformation beyond ethene. Complete reductive dechlorination to ethane and ethene occurred at locations with at least sulfate-reducing conditions and with a residence time in the samples streambed zone (80 cm depth) of at least 10 days. Among these locations, Dehalococcoides was detected using a PCR method where SOM contents were >2% w/w and where transformation proceeded beyond ethene. However, it was not detected at locations with low SOM, which may cause an insufficient H2 supply to sustain a detectably dense Dehalococcoides population. Additionally, it is possible that other organisms are responsible for the biodegradation. A microcosm study with streambed sediments demonstrated the potential of VC oxidation throughout the site even at locations without a pre-exposure to VC, consistent with the detection of the epoxyalkane:coenzyme M transferase (EaCoMT) gene involved in the degradation of chlorinated ethenes via epoxidation. In contrast, no aerobic transformation of cDCE in microcosms over a period of 1.5 years was observed. In summary, the study demonstrated that carbon isotope analysis is a sensitive tool to identify the degree of chlorinated ethene transformation even in hydrologically and geochemically complex streambed systems. In addition, it was observed that the degree of transformation is related to redox conditions, which in turn depend on groundwater discharge rates.
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Carbon and chlorine isotope fractionation during aerobic oxidation and reductive dechlorination of vinyl chloride and cis-1,2-dichloroethene
    (2009)
    Abe, Yumiko
    ;
    Aravena, Ramon
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    ;
    Shouakar-Stash, O
    ;
    Cox, E
    ;
    Roberts, J.D
    ;
    The study investigated carbon and chlorine isotope fractionation during aerobic oxidation and reductive dechlorination of vinyl chloride (VC) and cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cDCE). The experimental data followed a Rayleigh trend. For aerobic oxidation, the average carbon isotope enrichment factors were -7.2‰ and-8.5‰ for VC and cDCE, respectively, while average chlorine isotope enrichment factors were only -0.3‰ for both compounds. These values are consistent with an initial transformation by epoxidation for which a significant primary carbon isotope effect and only a small secondary chlorine isotope effect is expected. For reductive dechlorination, larger carbon isotope enrichment factors of -25.2‰ for VC and -18.5‰ for cDCE were observed consistent with previous studies. Although the average chlorine isotope enrichment factors were larger than those of aerobic oxidation (-1.8‰ for VC, -1.5‰ for cDCE), they were not as large as typically expected for a primary chlorine isotope effect suggesting that no cleavage of C-Cl bonds takes place during the initial ratelimiting step. The ratio of isotope enrichment factors for chlorine and carbon were substantially different for the two reaction mechanisms suggesting that the reaction mechanisms can be differentiated at the field scale using a dual isotope approach.
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Effect of molecule size on carbon isotope fractionation during biodegradation of chlorinated alkanes by Xanthobacter autotrophicus GJ10
    The effect of the number of carbon and chlorine atoms on carbon isotope fractionation during dechlorination of chlorinated alkanes by Xanthobacter autotrophicus GJ10 was studied using pure culture and cell-free extract experiments. The magnitude of carbon isotope fractionation decreased with increasing carbon number. The decrease can be explained by an increasing probability that the heavy isotope is located at a non-reacting position for increasing molecule size. The isotope data were corrected for the number of carbons as well as the number of reactive sites to obtain reacting-site-specific values denoted as apparent kinetic isotope effect (AKIE). Even after the correction, the obtained AKIE values varied (on average 1.0608, 1.0477, 1.0616, and 1.0555 for 1,2-dichloroethane, chloropentane, 1,3-dichloropentane and chlorobutane, respectively). Cell-free extract experiments were carried out to evaluate the effect of transport across the cell membrane on the observed variability in the AKIE values, which revealed that variability still persisted. The study demonstrates that even after differences related to the carbon number and structure of the molecule are taken into account, there still remain differences in AKIE values even for compounds that are degraded by the same pure culture and an identical reaction mechanism.