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Organohalide-Respiring Bacteria pp 563–586Cite as

“Dehalobium chlorocoercia” DF-1—from Discovery to Application

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Abstract

“Dehalobium chlorocoercia” strain DF-1 is an organohalide respiring ultramicrobacterium isolated from a tidal estuary of Charleston Harbor using a polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congener as the sole electron acceptor. Organohalide respiration occurs by dechlorination of PCB congeners with doubly flanked chlorines, but this strain is also capable of dechlorinating chlorobenzenes with doubly flanked chlorines and tetra- and tri-chloroethene to a mixture of cis- and trans-1,2-dichloroethene. The range of PCB congeners dechlorinated from an Aroclor is limited in comparison with other PCB respiring strains; however, “D. chlorocoercia” strain DF-1 is capable of dechlorinating PCBs at environmentally relevant concentrations that are typically below saturation in water. In sediment-free medium an unidentified water-soluble factor from a Desulfovibrio sp. is required for growth. “D. chlorocoercia” strain DF-1 is osmotolerant, enabling it to grow and dechlorinate PCBs in sediments ranging from freshwater to marine. What follows is a description of “D. chlorocoercia” strain DF-1 and some of its related PCB respiring species from the perspective of environmental detection, dechlorination pathways and kinetics , biostimulation, electrostimulation, and finally bioaugmentation to enhance PCB degradation in sediments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, Department of Marine Biotechnology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Kevin R. Sowers

  2. Marine Medicine and Environmental Science Center, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    Harold D. May

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  1. Harold D. May
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  2. Kevin R. Sowers
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Correspondence to Kevin R. Sowers .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department Isotope Biogeochemistry, Helmholtz Centre for Environ. Research Department Isotope Biogeochemistry, Leipzig, Germany

    Lorenz Adrian

  2. Department of Microbiology, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Tennessee, Center for Environmental Biotechnology, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

    Frank E. Löffler

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May, H.D., Sowers, K.R. (2016). “Dehalobium chlorocoercia” DF-1—from Discovery to Application. In: Adrian, L., Löffler, F. (eds) Organohalide-Respiring Bacteria. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-49875-0_24

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