SBIR Phase I: In Situ Remediation of Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether (MTBE) Using Bioaugmentation

汽油添加剂甲基叔丁基醚（MTBE）是美国地下水中第二大最普遍的污染物，目前还没有经济的技术将其从供水中去除。环境科学家最近分离出一种利用MTBE作为生长底物的新型细菌（ENV 735）。这只是第二个关于能够在MTBE上生长的纯培养的报告。本I期提案的目的是评估菌株ENV 735在MTBE原位生物修复中的潜在应用。在不同微生物和地球化学条件下，利用含水层微观环境测量ENV 735对MTBE的降解动力学。此外，我们将研究ENV 735对MTBE的降解途径，并通过实验来确定与ENV 735相同的其他细菌是否具有降解MTBE的代谢能力。本研究的数据将用于评估使用ENV 735和类似微生物原位修复受污染含水层MTBE的可行性。一种能够快速、高效、低成本地破坏地下水中甲基叔丁基醚的修复技术的商业潜力是巨大的。这种可能性源于以下因素：(1)MTBE是美国第二大最普遍的地下水污染物（例如，丹佛市区79%的水井最近被发现受到污染）；(2)传统技术在从地下水中去除这种污染物方面是无效的；(3)MTBE已被证明在实验动物中致癌，因此监管部门的关注很高。基于这些因素，ENVIROGEN分析师预计MTBE将成为未来十年最活跃的修复市场之一。

The gasoline additive methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is the second most prevalent contaminant in groundwater in the United States, and there are currently no economical technologies for its removal from the water supply. Envirogen scientists have recently isolated a novel bacterium (ENV 735) that utilizes MTBE as a growth substrate. This is only the second report of a pure culture that is capable of growing on MTBE. The objective of this Phase I Proposal is to evaluate the potential application of strain ENV 735 for in situ bioremediation of MTBE. Aquifer microcosms will be used to measure the kinetics of MTBE degradation by ENV 735 under different microbiological and geochemical conditions. In addition, the pathway of MTBE degradation by ENV 735 will be studied, and experiments will be conducted to determine whether the metabolic capacity to degrade MTBE is shared among other bacteria of the same class as ENV 735. The data from this study will be used to assess the feasibility of using ENV 735 and similar microorganisms for in situ remediation of MTBE in contaminated aquifers.The commercial potential for a remediation technology that allows rapid, efficient, and cost effective destruction of MTBE in groundwater is tremendous. This potential derives from the following factors: (1) MTBE is the second most prevalent groundwater contaminant in the United States (e.g., 79 % of wells in urban Denver were recently found to be contaminated); (2) traditional technologies are ineffective at removing this contaminant from groundwater, and (3) MTBE has been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals, thus regulatory concern is high. Based on these factors, ENVIROGEN analysts expect MTBE to be one of the most active remediation markets over the next decade.