Distribution of a Sulfolane-Metabolizing Rhodoferax sp. Throughout a Contaminated Subarctic Aquifer and Two Groundwater Treatment Systems
An extensive plume of the emerging contaminant sulfolane has been found emanating from a refinery in Interior Alaska, raising questions about the microbial potential for natural attenuation and bioremediation in this subarctic aquifer. Previously, an aerobic sulfolane-assimilating Rhodoferax sp. was...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:bfb2d93d001946a69a5041faacdd46c1 2023-05-15T18:28:10+02:00 Distribution of a Sulfolane-Metabolizing Rhodoferax sp. Throughout a Contaminated Subarctic Aquifer and Two Groundwater Treatment Systems Christopher P. Kasanke Michael D. Willis Mary Beth Leigh 2021-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.714769 https://doaj.org/article/bfb2d93d001946a69a5041faacdd46c1 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.714769/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X 1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.714769 https://doaj.org/article/bfb2d93d001946a69a5041faacdd46c1 Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 12 (2021) Rhodoferax emerging contaminant granular activated carbon aerobic biodegradation air sparging Microbiology QR1-502 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.714769 2022-12-31T05:54:38Z An extensive plume of the emerging contaminant sulfolane has been found emanating from a refinery in Interior Alaska, raising questions about the microbial potential for natural attenuation and bioremediation in this subarctic aquifer. Previously, an aerobic sulfolane-assimilating Rhodoferax sp. was identified from the aquifer using stable isotope probing. Here, we assessed the distribution of known sulfolane-assimilating bacteria throughout the contaminated subarctic aquifer using 16S-rRNA-amplicon analyses of ~100 samples collected from groundwater monitoring wells and two groundwater treatment systems. One treatment system was an in situ air sparging system where air was injected directly into the aquifer. The other was an ex situ granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration system for the treatment of private well water. We found that the sulfolane-assimilating Rhodoferax sp. was present throughout the aquifer but was significantly more abundant in groundwater associated with the air sparge system. The reduction of sulfolane concentrations combined with the apparent enrichment of sulfolane degraders in the air sparging zone suggests that the addition of oxygen facilitated sulfolane biodegradation. To investigate other environmental controls on Rhodoferax populations, we also examined correlations between groundwater geochemical parameters and the relative abundance of the Rhodoferax sp. and found only manganese to be significantly positively correlated. The sulfolane-assimilating Rhodoferax sp. was not a major component of the GAC filtration system, suggesting that biodegradation is not an important contributor to sulfolane removal in these systems. We conclude that air sparging is a promising approach for enhancing the abundance and activity of aerobic sulfolane-degraders like Rhodoferax to locally stimulate sulfolane biodegradation in situ. Article in Journal/Newspaper Subarctic Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Frontiers in Microbiology 12 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Rhodoferax emerging contaminant granular activated carbon aerobic biodegradation air sparging Microbiology QR1-502 |
spellingShingle |
Rhodoferax emerging contaminant granular activated carbon aerobic biodegradation air sparging Microbiology QR1-502 Christopher P. Kasanke Michael D. Willis Mary Beth Leigh Distribution of a Sulfolane-Metabolizing Rhodoferax sp. Throughout a Contaminated Subarctic Aquifer and Two Groundwater Treatment Systems |
topic_facet |
Rhodoferax emerging contaminant granular activated carbon aerobic biodegradation air sparging Microbiology QR1-502 |
description |
An extensive plume of the emerging contaminant sulfolane has been found emanating from a refinery in Interior Alaska, raising questions about the microbial potential for natural attenuation and bioremediation in this subarctic aquifer. Previously, an aerobic sulfolane-assimilating Rhodoferax sp. was identified from the aquifer using stable isotope probing. Here, we assessed the distribution of known sulfolane-assimilating bacteria throughout the contaminated subarctic aquifer using 16S-rRNA-amplicon analyses of ~100 samples collected from groundwater monitoring wells and two groundwater treatment systems. One treatment system was an in situ air sparging system where air was injected directly into the aquifer. The other was an ex situ granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration system for the treatment of private well water. We found that the sulfolane-assimilating Rhodoferax sp. was present throughout the aquifer but was significantly more abundant in groundwater associated with the air sparge system. The reduction of sulfolane concentrations combined with the apparent enrichment of sulfolane degraders in the air sparging zone suggests that the addition of oxygen facilitated sulfolane biodegradation. To investigate other environmental controls on Rhodoferax populations, we also examined correlations between groundwater geochemical parameters and the relative abundance of the Rhodoferax sp. and found only manganese to be significantly positively correlated. The sulfolane-assimilating Rhodoferax sp. was not a major component of the GAC filtration system, suggesting that biodegradation is not an important contributor to sulfolane removal in these systems. We conclude that air sparging is a promising approach for enhancing the abundance and activity of aerobic sulfolane-degraders like Rhodoferax to locally stimulate sulfolane biodegradation in situ. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Christopher P. Kasanke Michael D. Willis Mary Beth Leigh |
author_facet |
Christopher P. Kasanke Michael D. Willis Mary Beth Leigh |
author_sort |
Christopher P. Kasanke |
title |
Distribution of a Sulfolane-Metabolizing Rhodoferax sp. Throughout a Contaminated Subarctic Aquifer and Two Groundwater Treatment Systems |
title_short |
Distribution of a Sulfolane-Metabolizing Rhodoferax sp. Throughout a Contaminated Subarctic Aquifer and Two Groundwater Treatment Systems |
title_full |
Distribution of a Sulfolane-Metabolizing Rhodoferax sp. Throughout a Contaminated Subarctic Aquifer and Two Groundwater Treatment Systems |
title_fullStr |
Distribution of a Sulfolane-Metabolizing Rhodoferax sp. Throughout a Contaminated Subarctic Aquifer and Two Groundwater Treatment Systems |
title_full_unstemmed |
Distribution of a Sulfolane-Metabolizing Rhodoferax sp. Throughout a Contaminated Subarctic Aquifer and Two Groundwater Treatment Systems |
title_sort |
distribution of a sulfolane-metabolizing rhodoferax sp. throughout a contaminated subarctic aquifer and two groundwater treatment systems |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.714769 https://doaj.org/article/bfb2d93d001946a69a5041faacdd46c1 |
genre |
Subarctic Alaska |
genre_facet |
Subarctic Alaska |
op_source |
Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 12 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.714769/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X 1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.714769 https://doaj.org/article/bfb2d93d001946a69a5041faacdd46c1 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.714769 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Microbiology |
container_volume |
12 |
_version_ |
1766210527931924480 |