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Science 10 May 1991:
Vol. 252. no. 5007, pp. 830 - 833
DOI: 10.1126/science.2028258
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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.


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Mobility of Protozoa through Narrow Channels.
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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)
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Discovery of a bacterium, with distinctive dioxygenase, that is responsible for in situ biodegradation in contaminated sediment.
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Identification and Characterization of the Conjugal Transfer Region of the pCg1 plasmid from Naphthalene-Degrading Pseudomonas putida Cg1.
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Horizontal Transfer of phnAc Dioxygenase Genes within One of Two Phenotypically and Genotypically Distinctive Naphthalene-Degrading Guilds from Adjacent Soil Environments.
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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.
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In Situ, Real-Time Catabolic Gene Expression: Extraction and Characterization of Naphthalene Dioxygenase mRNA Transcripts from Groundwater.
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Size-Selective Predation on Groundwater Bacteria by Nanoflagellates in an Organic-Contaminated Aquifer.
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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
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