Biodegradation of Aromatic Organic Compounds in Alternating Aerobic and Denitrifying Environments

9988086 Grady在美国超过60%的大型生产化学品是芳香族有机化合物。 因此，它们是废水和环境中的常见污染物。 虽然它们的生物降解能力取决于它们的个体结构，但一个关键特征，即芳香环，决定了生物降解过程的性质。 这是因为细菌使用不同的酶系统来降解芳香族化合物在存在和不存在氧气的情况下。 在有氧条件下，催化它们的酶只有在氧气存在时才能合成和活化。 在厌氧条件下，环断裂反应是还原性的。 因此，催化它们的酶只有在没有氧气的情况下才能合成和活跃。 这就提出了一个问题，即在有氧和厌氧条件之间频繁循环的细菌如何降解芳香族化合物。 由于与氮的排放相关的环境影响，氮去除方法越来越频繁地被应用于废水处理。 这种方法采用好氧区和厌氧区，在后者中硝酸盐作为电子受体。 在所有这些情况下，人们必须问如何在环境的氧化还原状态的变化影响芳香族化合物的生物降解。 该研究的目的就是为了回答这个问题。两种类型的实验将使用在恒化器中生长的细菌混合培养物（没有生物质循环的连续培养物）进行，这将被使用，因为它们可以密切控制细菌的生长速度和环境条件。 在一种情况下，恒化器将经受不同频率和持续时间的交替的有氧和厌氧（以硝酸盐作为电子受体）条件，以确定所施加的循环的性质如何影响培养物去除芳香族化合物的能力。 在另一种情况下，少量的氧气将连续注入到含有硝酸盐的厌氧恒化器中。从这项研究中获得的结果将被用来获得指导方针，以帮助工程师面临的任务，设计废水处理系统，能够去除氮和芳香族化合物到非常低的水平。 它们还将更好地了解细菌在氧化还原状态波动的环境中生长时如何控制氧敏感酶，从而帮助科学家更好地预测排放到这种环境中的芳香族化合物的命运。 最后，研究结果将有助于工程师确定将硝酸盐作为电子受体添加到含有低水平溶解氧的受污染含水层中的有效性。***

9988086 Grady Over 60% of the large production chemicals in the USA are aromatic organic compounds. Consequently, they are common pollutants in wastewaters and the environment. Although their biodegradabilities depend on their individual structures, one key feature, the aromatic ring, defines the nature of the biodegradation process. This is because bacteria use different enzyme systems to degrade aromatic compounds in the presence and absence of oxygen. Under aerobic conditions, the enzymes catalyzing them are only synthesized and active when oxygen is present. Under anaerobic conditions, the ring cleavage reactions are reductive. Therefore, the enzymes catalyzing them are only synthesized and active when oxygen is absent. This raises questions about how bacterial that are cycled frequently between aerobic and anaerobic conditions degrade aromatic compounds. Because of the environmental impacts associated with the discharge of nitrogen, nitrogen removal processes are being applied with increasing frequency for the treatment of wastewaters. Such processes employ both aerobic and anaerobic zones, with nitrate as the electron acceptor in the latter. In all of these situations one must ask how the variation in redox state of the environment influences the biodegradation of aromatic compounds. The purpose of the proposed research is to answer that question.Two types of experiments will be run with mixed cultures of bacteria grown in chemostats (continuous cultures without biomass recycle), which will be used because they allow close control over both the bacterial growth rate and the environmental conditions. In one, the chemostats will be subjected to alternating aerobic and anaerobic (with nitrate as the electron acceptor) conditions of different frequency and duration to ascertain how the nature of the imposed cycle influences the ability of the culture to remove aromatic compounds. In the other, small quantities of oxygen will be continuously injected into otherwise anaerobic chemostats containing nitrate. The results obtained from this study will be used to derive guidelines to aid engineers faced with the task of designing wastewater treatment systems that are capable of removing both nitrogen and aromatic compounds to very low levels. They will also provide a better understanding of how bacteria control oxygen-sensitive enzymes when grown in environments that have fluctuations in redox state, thereby helping scientists make a better predictions of the fate of aromatic compounds discharged to such environments. Finally, the results will help engineers determine the efficacy of adding nitrate as an electron acceptor to contaminated aquifers containing low levels of dissolved oxygen. ***