Aerobic degradation of chlorinated solvents by aromatics-using bacteria

Two bacterial strains were isolated fi om activated sludge samples as aromatics-using TCE degraders. A toluene-using strain B1 was identified as Burkholderia pickettii while a phenol-using, gram-positive strain MO7 could not be placed in a particular genus at this stage. Both strains completely degraded 10 mg /L of TCE in growing on aromatics, although degradation profiles were different. The resting-cell of strain MO7 could completely degrade 30 mg/L of TCE in liquid and 18 mg/kg-soil of TCE even in unsaturated soil (water content :25 %). The C23O constitutive mutants derived from the strain MO7 could degrade 30 mg/Lof TCE without phenol as the aromatics-inducer.