EFFECT OF MINERAL MEDIA ON TRICHLOROETHYLENE OXIDATION BY AQUIFER METHANOTROPHS

The effect of growth in different mineral media on subsequent oxidation of trichloroethylene (TCE) by type I and type II aquifer methanotrophs was evaluated. Mixed culture MM1, containing a type II methanotroph, and a type I pure culture tentatively identified as a Methylomonas sp., were enriched and isolated from an uncontaminated groundwater aquifer. The second-order rate coefficients (k/Ks) for TCE oxidation by these cultures varied by more than an order of magnitude when the cultures were grown in different mineral media. The presence of a chelator (NaEDTA) in one of these media, termed Whittenbury, significantly enhanced rates of TCE oxidation by all the cultures tested. When pregrown in this mineral medium, the resting cells of the pure culture Methylomonas sp. MM2 exhibited second-order TCE oxidation rates as great as 0.78 liter/mg·day, whereas when pregrown in Whittenbury lacking the chelator, the rates did not exceed 0.018 liter/mg·day. The rate of TCE oxidation by Methylomonas sp. MM2 pregrown in another mineral medium formulation, devoid of chelators (termed Fogel), was intermediate in value (0.26 liter/mg·day), and adding EDTA to this medium did not affect the rate. Adding 1.6 μM copper to both Whittenbury and Fogel mineral media reduced the TCE oxidation rates about an order of magnitude; subsequent addition of 84 μM EDTA partially alleviated this effect. The maximal rate coefficients (k) for TCE oxidation by Methylomonas sp. MM2 were significantly higher, and the half saturation coefficients (Ks) for TCE significantly lower, following growth in the presence of EDTA. Stationary phase TCE oxidation rates as great as 2.3 liter/mg·day were achieved when Methylomonas sp. MM2, grown in Whittenbury medium was provided formate as a source of reducing power. Omitting EDTA from Whittenbury medium also significantly reduced the methane oxidation rate and the growth yield. Copper addition did not significantly affect the methane oxidation rate or growth yield. The internal membrane structures of Methylomonas sp. MM2 evaluated by transmission electron microscopy showed the presence of internal membranes, the ultrastructure of which was the same regardless of growth medium or TCE oxidation rate. The methane monooxygenase responsible for TCE oxidation in Methylomonas sp. MM2 under the conditions of this study appears to be associated with the particulate fraction. © 1990 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.