Cometabolic biodegradation of methyl tert-butyl ether by a soil consortium: Effect of components present in gasoline

The Journal of General and Applied Microbiology

Patrice M. Garnier¹  Richard Auria²  Sergio Revah²  Christopher Augur¹ 

[1] IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement);Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa

关键词: biodegradation;    cometabolism;    gasoline;    methyl tert-butyl ether;   

DOI  :  10.2323/jgam.46.79

学科分类：微生物学和免疫学

来源: Applied Microbiology, Molecular and Cellulrar Biosciences Research Foundation

【 摘 要 】

A soil consortium was tested for its ability to degrade reformulated gasoline, containing methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE). Reformulated gasoline was rapidly degraded to completion. However, MTBE tested alone was not degraded. A screening was carried out to identify compounds in gasoline that participate in cometabolism with MTBE. Aromatic compounds (benzene, toluene, xylenes) and compounds structurally similar to MTBE (tert-butanol, 2,2-dimethylbutane, 2,2,4-trimethylpentane) were unable to cometabolize MTBE. Cyclohexane was resistant to degradation. However, all n-alkanes tested for cometabolic activity (pentane, hexane, heptane) did enable the biodegradation of MTBE. Among the alkanes tested, pentane was the most efficient (200 μg/day). Upon the depletion of pentane, the consortium stopped degrading MTBE. When the consortium was spiked with pentane, MTBE degradation continued. When the ratio of MTBE to pentane was increased, the amount of MTBE degraded by the consortium was higher. Finally, diethylether was tested for cometabolic degradation with MTBE. Both compounds were degraded, but the process differed from that observed with pentane.

【 授权许可】

Unknown