Skip to main content
PMC home page
Applied and Environmental Microbiology logoLink to Applied and Environmental Microbiology
. 1984 Oct;48(4):840–848. doi: 10.1128/aem.48.4.840-848.1984

Isolation and Partial Characterization of Bacteria in an Anaerobic Consortium That Mineralizes 3-Chlorobenzoic Acid †

Daniel R Shelton 1,‡, James M Tiedje 1,*
PMCID: PMC241624  PMID: 16346648

Abstract

A methanogenic consortium able to use 3-chlorobenzoic acid as its sole energy and carbon source was enriched from anaerobic sewage sludge. Seven bacteria were isolated from the consortium in mono- or coculture. They included: one dechlorinating bacterium (strain DCB-1), one benzoate-oxidizing bacterium (strain BZ-2), two butyrate-oxidizing bacteria (strains SF-1 and NSF-2), two H2-consuming methanogens (Methanospirillum hungatei PM-1 and Methanobacterium sp. strain PM-2), and a sulfate-reducing bacterium (Desulfovibrio sp. strain PS-1). The dechlorinating bacterium (DCB-1) was a gram-negative, obligate anaerobe with a unique “collar” surrounding the cell. A medium containing rumen fluid supported minimal growth; pyruvate was the only substrate found to increase growth. The bacterium had a generation time of 4 to 5 days. 3-Chlorobenzoate was dechlorinated stoichiometrically to benzoate, which accumulated in the medium; the rate of dechlorination was ca. 0.1 pmol bacterium−1 day−1. The benzoate-oxidizing bacterium (BZ-2) was a gram-negative, obligate anaerobe and could only be grown as a syntroph. Benzoate was the only substrate observed to support growth, and, when grown in coculture with M. hungatei, it was fermented to acetate and CH4. One butyrate-oxidizing bacterium (NSF-2) was a gram-negative, non-sporeforming, obligate anaerobe; the other (SF-1) was a gram-positive, sporeforming, obligate anaerobe. Both could only be grown as syntrophs. The substrates observed to support growth of both bacteria were butyrate, 2-dl-methylbutyrate, valerate, and caproate; isobutyrate supported growth of only the sporeforming bacterium (SF-1). Fermentation products were acetate and CH4 (from butyrate, isobutyrate, or caproate) or acetate, propionate, and CH4 (from 2-dl-methylbutyrate or valerate) when grown in coculture with M. hungatei. A mutualism among at least the dechlorinating, benzoate-oxidizing, and methane-forming members was apparently required for utilization of the 3-chlorobenzoate substrate.

Full text

PDF
840

Images in this article

841Image
on p.841
842Image
on p.842
843Image
on p.843
844Image
on p.844
845Image
on p.845
846Image
on p.846

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Boyd S. A., Shelton D. R. Anaerobic biodegradation of chlorophenols in fresh and acclimated sludge. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1984 Feb;47(2):272–277. doi: 10.1128/aem.47.2.272-277.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Boyd S. A., Shelton D. R., Berry D., Tiedje J. M. Anaerobic biodegradation of phenolic compounds in digested sludge. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1983 Jul;46(1):50–54. doi: 10.1128/aem.46.1.50-54.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Caldwell D. E., Tiedje J. M. A morphological study of anaerobic bacteria from the hypolimnia of two Michigan lakes. Can J Microbiol. 1975 Mar;21(3):362–376. doi: 10.1139/m75-051. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Horowitz A., Suflita J. M., Tiedje J. M. Reductive dehalogenations of halobenzoates by anaerobic lake sediment microorganisms. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1983 May;45(5):1459–1465. doi: 10.1128/aem.45.5.1459-1465.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Kirkpatrick D., Biggs S. R., Conway B., Finn C. M., Hawkins D. R., Honda T., Ishida M., Powell G. P. Metabolism of N-(2,3-dichlorophenyl)-3,4,5,6-tetrachlorophthalamic acid (techlofthalam) in paddy soil and rice. J Agric Food Chem. 1981 Nov-Dec;29(6):1149–1153. doi: 10.1021/jf00108a012. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. McInerney M. J., Bryant M. P., Hespell R. B., Costerton J. W. Syntrophomonas wolfei gen. nov. sp. nov., an Anaerobic, Syntrophic, Fatty Acid-Oxidizing Bacterium. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1981 Apr;41(4):1029–1039. doi: 10.1128/aem.41.4.1029-1039.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Murthy N. B., Kaufman D. D., Fries G. F. Degradation of pentachlorophenol (PCP) in aerobic and anaerobic soil. J Environ Sci Health B. 1979;14(1):1–14. doi: 10.1080/03601237909372110. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Shelton D. R., Tiedje J. M. General method for determining anaerobic biodegradation potential. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1984 Apr;47(4):850–857. doi: 10.1128/aem.47.4.850-857.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Suflita J. M., Horowitz A., Shelton D. R., Tiedje J. M. Dehalogenation: a novel pathway for the anaerobic biodegradation of haloaromatic compounds. Science. 1982 Dec 10;218(4577):1115–1117. doi: 10.1126/science.218.4577.1115. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Suflita J. M., Robinson J. A., Tiedje J. M. Kinetics of microbial dehalogenation of haloaromatic substrates in methanogenic environments. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1983 May;45(5):1466–1473. doi: 10.1128/aem.45.5.1466-1473.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. WOLIN E. A., WOLIN M. J., WOLFE R. S. FORMATION OF METHANE BY BACTERIAL EXTRACTS. J Biol Chem. 1963 Aug;238:2882–2886. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Zehnder A. J., Huser B. A., Brock T. D., Wuhrmann K. Characterization of an acetate-decarboxylating, non-hydrogen-oxidizing methane bacterium. Arch Microbiol. 1980 Jan;124(1):1–11. doi: 10.1007/BF00407022. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied and Environmental Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES