Quantifying Genes and Transcripts To Assess the In Situ Physiology of “ Dehalococcoides ” spp. in a Trichloroethene-Contaminated Groundwater Site

• DOI: 10.1128/aem.02199-07
• Publication Date: 2008-03-08T02:09:58Z
• Authors: Patrick K. H. Lee; Tamzen W. Macbeth; Kent S. Sorenson; Rula A. Deeb; Lisa Alvarez-Cohen
• Keywords: Dehalococcoides; Biostimulation; Bioaugmentation

ABSTRACT Quantitative PCR (qPCR) was coupled with reverse transcription (RT) to analyze both gene copy numbers and transcripts of the 16S rRNA three reductive dehalogenase (RDase) genes ( tceA , vcrA bvcA ) as biomarkers “ Dehalococcoides ” spp. in groundwater a trichloroethene-dense nonaqueous-phase liquid site at Fort Lewis, WA, that sequentially subjected biostimulation bioaugmentation. cells carrying were indigenous site. The sum identified RDase closely correlated throughout bioaugmentation activity, suggesting these represented major metabolic functions this Biomarker quantification revealed an overall increase more than 3 orders magnitude total population through 1-year monitoring period (spanning bioaugmentation), measurement respective concentrations indicated different growth dynamics among cells. containing consistently lagged behind other made up less 5% population, whereas - -containing dominant fractions. Quantification samples verified highly expressed all examined, while detected inconsistently, active physiological state gene. production vinyl chloride ethene toward end treatment supported activity -carrying A clone library field produced degenerate primers expression two putative not previously monitored RT-qPCR. level abundance one FtL-RDase-1638 cDNA tracked gene, likely colocated genomes Overall, results from study demonstrate biomarker sites can provide useful information about situ physiology strains their associated activity.