An Adhesion-deficient Methylosinus Trichosporium OB3b for In Situ Bioremediation of Trichloroethylene-contaminated Aquifers

污染控制领域需要一种高效、经济的原位处理方法来修复被氯化脂肪族化合物如三氯乙烯（TCE）污染的含水层。成功的原位处理饱和区土壤和液体需要在污染的目标区域有代谢能力的细菌存在。在许多情况下，代谢所需的微生物可能不存在于污染区，或者可能不均匀地分布在整个地下。TCE是一种常见的地下水污染物，可被好氧甲烷化菌Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b高效降解。然而，像大多数土壤分离物一样，毛孢霉具有天然的粘附特性，使它们与土壤表面结合，从而限制了它们对污染物的可及性。我们正在生成OB3b的粘附缺陷突变体，该突变体能够在通过含水层的同时积极降解TCE和相关有毒物质。具有这种能力的生物可以作为具有成本效益的就地处理技术的基础，或者与目前净化含水层的抽水处理方法相结合，提供协同效益。

The pollution control field is in need of an efficient, cost- effective in situ treatment process to remediate aquifers contaminated with chlorinated aliphatic compounds such as trichloroethylene (TCE). Successful in situ treatment of saturated zone soils and liquid requires the presence of metabolically capable bacteria in the polluted target zone. In many cases, metabolically desirable microorganisms may not be present in the contaminated zone, or may be unevenly distributed throughout the subsurface. TCE is a common ground water contaminant that is very efficiently degraded by the aerobic methanotroph Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b. However, M. trichosporium, like most soil isolates, has natural adhesive properties which cause them to bind to soil surfaces, thus limiting their accessibility to the contaminant. We are generating an adhesion deficient mutant of OB3b capable of moving through an aquifer while actively degrading TCE and related toxic substances. An organism with this capability would serve as the basis for a cost-effective in situ treatment technology, or provide synergistic benefits when combined with current pump-and-treat methods of purifying aquifers.