Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 10 May 1991:
Vol. 252. no. 5007, pp. 830 - 833
DOI: 10.1126/science.2028258
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Science, Vol 252, Issue 5007, 830-833
Copyright © 1991 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

In situ biodegradation: microbiological patterns in a contaminated aquifer

EL Madsen, JL Sinclair, and WC Ghiorse

Section of Microbiology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853.

Conventional approaches for proving in situ biodegradation of organic pollutants in aquifers have severe limitations. In the approach described here, patterns in a comprehensive set of microbiological activity and distribution data were analyzed. Measurements were performed on sediment samples gathered at consistent depths in aquifer boreholes spanning a gradient of contaminant concentrations at a buried coal tar site. Microbial adaptation to polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was demonstrated by mineralization of naphthalene and phenanthrene in samples from PAH-contaminated, but not adjacent pristine, zones. Furthermore, contaminant-stimulated in situ bacterial growth was indicated because enhanced numbers of protozoa and their bacterial prey were found exclusively in contaminated subsurface samples. The data suggest that many convergent lines of logically linked indirect evidence can effectively document in situ biodegradation of aquifer contaminants.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Diversity, Abundance, and Consistency of Microbial Oxygenase Expression and Biodegradation in a Shallow Contaminated Aquifer.
J. M. Yagi and E. L. Madsen (2009)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 75, 6478-6487
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Eukaryotic Diversity in an Anaerobic Aquifer Polluted with Landfill Leachate.
T. Brad, M. Braster, B. M. van Breukelen, N. M. van Straalen, and W. F. M. Roling (2008)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 74, 3959-3968
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mobility of Protozoa through Narrow Channels.
W. Wang, L. M. Shor, E. J. LeBoeuf, J. P. Wikswo, and D. S. Kosson (2005)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 71, 4628-4637
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Polaromonas naphthalenivorans sp. nov., a naphthalene-degrading bacterium from naphthalene-contaminated sediment.
C. O. Jeon, W. Park, W. C. Ghiorse, and E. L. Madsen (2004)
Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 54, 93-97
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Discovery of a bacterium, with distinctive dioxygenase, that is responsible for in situ biodegradation in contaminated sediment.
C. O. Jeon, W. Park, P. Padmanabhan, C. DeRito, J. R. Snape, and E. L. Madsen (2003)
PNAS 100, 13591-13596
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Identification and Characterization of the Conjugal Transfer Region of the pCg1 plasmid from Naphthalene-Degrading Pseudomonas putida Cg1.
W. Park, C. O. Jeon, A. M. Hohnstock-Ashe, S. C. Winans, G. J. Zylstra, and E. L. Madsen (2003)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 69, 3263-3271
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Horizontal Transfer of phnAc Dioxygenase Genes within One of Two Phenotypically and Genotypically Distinctive Naphthalene-Degrading Guilds from Adjacent Soil Environments.
M. S. Wilson, J. B. Herrick, C. O. Jeon, D. E. Hinman, and E. L. Madsen (2003)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 69, 2172-2181
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Bacterivorous Soil Flagellate Heteromita globosa Reduces Bacterial Clogging under Denitrifying Conditions in Sand-Filled Aquifer Columns.
R. G. Mattison, H. Taki, and S. Harayama (2002)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 68, 4539-4545
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
nahR, encoding a LysR-type transcriptional regulator, is highly conserved among naphthalene-degrading bacteria isolated from a coal tar waste-contaminated site and in extracted community DNA.
W. Park, P. Padmanabhan, S. Padmanabhan, G. J. Zylstra, and E. L. Madsen (2002)
Microbiology 148, 2319-2329
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Effect of Growth Conditions and Staining Procedure upon the Subsurface Transport and Attachment Behaviors of a Groundwater Protist.
R. W. Harvey, N. Mayberry, N. E. Kinner, D. W. Metge, and F. Novarino (2002)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 68, 1872-1881
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Naphthalene and Donor Cell Density Influence Field Conjugation of Naphthalene Catabolism Plasmids.
A. M. Hohnstock, K. G. Stuart-Keil, E. E. Kull, and E. L. Madsen (2000)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 66, 3088-3092
   Abstract »    Full Text »
In Situ, Real-Time Catabolic Gene Expression: Extraction and Characterization of Naphthalene Dioxygenase mRNA Transcripts from Groundwater.
M. S. Wilson, C. Bakermans, and E. L. Madsen (1999)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 65, 80-87
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Grazing of a Tetrahymena sp. on Adhered Bacteria in Percolated Columns Monitored by In Situ Hybridization with Fluorescent Oligonucleotide Probes.
H. Eisenmann, H. Harms, R. Meckenstock, E. I. Meyer, and A. J. B. Zehnder (1998)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 64, 1264-1269
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Size-Selective Predation on Groundwater Bacteria by Nanoflagellates in an Organic-Contaminated Aquifer.
N. E. Kinner, R. W. Harvey, K. Blakeslee, G. Novarino, and L. D. Meeker (1998)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 64, 618-625
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Biogeochemical factors affecting groundwater quality in central Tanzania.
R. J. Bowell, S. McEldowney, A. Warren, B. Mathew, and M. Bwankuzo (1996)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 113, 107-130
   Abstract »    PDF »
Microbial Control of Silicate Weathering in Organic-Rich Ground Water.
F. K. Hiebert, F. K. Hiebert, and P. C. Bennett (1992)
Science 258, 278-281
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)