Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2002NJ6B

Anaerobic biodegradation of MTBE under different anoxic conditions

Institute: New Jersey
Year Established: 2002 Start Date: 2002-03-01 End Date: 2003-03-01
Total Federal Funds: $4,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $17,770

Principal Investigators: Piyapawn Somsamak, Max Haggblom

Project Summary: The overall objective of the study is to investigate anaerobic MTBE-biodegradation processes, focusing on the microbial community structure of MTBE-degrading enriched cultures. In recent work we have obtained anaerobic enrichment cultures which are capable of biotransforming MTBE to TBA under sulfidogenic conditions The work in this proposed study will examine the ability of the enrichment cultures to degrade other ether compounds in relation to the side-chain structures that might affect the activities. Moreover, this proposed study will characterize the microbial community structure of these enriched cultures using molecular approaches in order to understand their role in MTBE-degrading ability. In addition, anaerobic microcosms will be set up from various environments under different electron acceptor conditions to investigate how widely distributed indigenous microorganisms capable of degrading MTBE and structurally related fuel oxygenates are in the environment and to determine the effects of alternate electron acceptors on biodegradation.