Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2009NJ199B

Application of molecular and metabolic biomarkers of anaerobic hydrocarbon degradation as evidence for natural attenuation in New Jersey groundwater samples

Institute: New Jersey
Year Established: 2009 Start Date: 2009-03-01 End Date: 2010-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $5,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $10,000

Principal Investigators: Amita Oka, Lily Young

Project Summary: In this study, we propose to analyze groundwater samples from a manufacturing gas plant impacted site, and evaluate them for the presence of two types of biomarkers (i) specific metabolites of anaerobic naphthalene and 2-methly naphthalene (2-MN) degradation (metabolic biomarkers), and (ii) functional gene bssA coding for alpha subunit of benzyl succinate synthase, a crucial enzyme in anaerobic hydrocarbon degradation (molecular biomarker). A few earlier studies have analyzed presence of metabolites of monoaromatic hydrocarbons along with bssA gene. This study is unique because it involves studying metabolic biomarkers of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) along with the molecular biomarker in the NJ groundwater samples. The results of this study can verify anaerobic biodegradation of PAHs in hydrocarbon impacted groundwater of NJ and will be useful in evaluation of remediation strategies at other impacted sites around the state.