title: Chloroform respiration to dichloromethane by a Dehalobacter population.
abstract: Chloroform (CF), or trichloromethane, is an ubiquitous environmental pollutant because of its widespread industrial use, historically poor disposal and recalcitrance to biodegradation. Chloroform is a potent inhibitor of metabolism and no known organism uses it as a growth substrate. We discovered that CF was rapidly and sustainably dechlorinated in the course of investigating anaerobic reductive dechlorination of 1,1,1-trichloroethane in a Dehalobacter-containing culture. Like 1,1,1-trichloroethane dechlorination in this culture, CF dechlorination was a growth-linked respiratory process, requiring H(2) as an electron donor and CF as an electron acceptor. Moreover, the same specific reductive dehalogenase likely catalyzed both reactions. This Dehalobacter population appears specialized for substrates with three halogen substituents on the same carbon atom, with widespread implications for bioremediation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5S 3E5.
authors.forename: Ariel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grostern
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Duhamel
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dworatzek
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Edwards
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002725:Chloroform / Q000378:metabolism*; D008752:Methylene Chloride / Q000378:metabolism*; D010459:Peptococcaceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D014240:Trichloroethanes / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D014240:Trichloroethanes; C024566:1,1,1-trichloroethane; D008752:Methylene Chloride; D002725:Chloroform