Summary
Several aspects of the anaerobic biodegradation of organic compounds are presented in this paper. The role of molecular oxygen in the metabolism of organic carbon compounds is summarized, followed by a discussion of some of the pathways and the electron acceptors involved in the degradation under anaerobic conditions. Several degradation mechanisms are demonstrated for selected aliphatic and aromatic xenobiotic compounds. Examples are given of factors which will strongly influence a degradation of anthropogenic substances. Finally, existing methods for biodegradability testing, their limitations, and some suggestions for improvements are described.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Dagley, S. (1975). A biochemical approach to some problems of environmental pollution. In: Water Pollution Microbiology, P.N. Campbell and W.M. Aldridge (Eds.), Vol 11, Academic Press, London, pp. 81–138.
Evans, W.C. (1977). Biochemistry of the bacterial catabolism of aromatic compounds in anaerobic environments. Nature 270, 17–22.
Wood, J.M. (1982). Chlorinated hydrocarbons: oxidation in the biosphere. Environ. Sci. Technol. 16, 291A–297A.
Vogel, T.M. and McCarty, P.L. (1985). Biotransformation of tetra-chloroethylene to trichloroethylene, dichloroethylene, vinyl chloride and carbon dioxide under methanogenic conditions. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 49, 1080–1083.
Tsuchiya, T. and Yamaha, T. (1984). Reductive dechlorination of 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene by Staphylococcus epidermis isolated from intestinal contents of rats. Agric. Biol. Chem. 48, 1545–1550.
Zehnder, A.J.B. (1982). The carbon cycle. In: Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, O. Hutzinger (Ed.), vol. 1, Part B, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 83–110.
Alexander, M. (1981). Biodegradation of chemicals of environmental concern. Science 211, 132–138.
Giger, W. and Roberts, P.V. (1978). Characterization of persistent organic carbon. In: Water Pollution Microbiology, R. Mitchell. (Ed.), Vol. 2, John Wiley & Sons, New York, pp. 135–175.
Grady Jr., C.P.L. (1985). Biodegradation: its measurement and microbiological basis. Biotechnol. and Bioeng. 27, 660–674.
Zehnder, A.J.B. and Stumm, W. Geochemistry and biogeochemistry of anaerobic habitats. In: Environmental Microbiology of Anaerobes, A.J.B. Zehnder (Ed.), John Wiley & Sons, New York, in press.
Davis, J.B. and Yarbrough, H.F. (1966). Anaerobic oxidation of hydrocarbons by Desulfovibrio desulfuricans. Chem. Geol. 1, 137–144.
Atlas, R.M. (1981). Microbial degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons: an environmental perspective. Microbiol. Rev. 45, 180–209.
Giger, W., Schaffner, C. and Wakeham, S.G. (1980). Aliphatic and olefinic hydrocarbons in recent sediments of Greifensee, Switzerland. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta. 44, 119–129.
Schink, B. (1985). Degradation of unsaturated hydrocarbons by methanogenic enrichment cultures. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 31, 69–77.
Schraa, G. and Zehnder, A.J.B. (1986). Biodegradation of chlorinated compounds. In: Organic Micropollutants in the Aquatic Environment, A. Bjørseth and G. Angeletti (Eds.), D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland, pp. 278–291.
Vogel, T.M., Criddle, C.S. and McCarty, P.L. (1987). Transformations of halogenated aliphatic compounds. Environ. Sci. technol. 21, 722–737.
Bouwer, E.J. and McCarty, P.L. (1983). Transformations of halogenated organic compounds under denitrification conditions. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 45, 1295–1299.
Bouwer, E.J. and McCarty, P.L. (1983). Transformations of 1-and 2-carbon halogenated aliphatic compounds under methanogenic conditions. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 45, 1286–1294.
Shelton, D.R. and Tiedje, J.M. (1984). General method for determining anaerobic biodegradation potential. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 47, 850–857.
Parsons, F. and Lage, G.B. (1985). Chlorinated organics in simulated groundwater environments. J. Am. Water Works Assoc. 77, 52–59.
Macalady, D.L., Tratuyek, P.G. and Grundl, T.J. (1986). Abiotic reduction reactions of anthropogenic organic chemicals in anaerobic systems: a critical review. J. Contam. Hydrol. 1, 1–23.
Young, L.Y. (1984). Anaerobic degradation of aromatic compounds. In: Microbial Degradation of Organic Compounds, D.T. Gibson (Ed.), Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, pp. 487–523.
Berry, D.F., Francis, A.J. and Bollag, J.-M. (1987). Microbial metabolism of homocyclic and heterocyclic aromatic compounds under anaerobic conditions. Microbiol. Rev. 51, 43–59.
Tiedje, J.M., Boyd, S.A. and Fathepure, B.Z. (1987). 13. Anaerobic degradation of chlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons. Dev. Ind. Microbiol. 27, 117–127.
Holliger, C., Stams, A.J.M. and Zehnder A.J.B. Anaerobic degradation of recalcitrant compounds (Presented at 5th Int. Symp. on anaerobic Digestion, Bologna, Italy, May 22–28, 1988).
Bakker, G. (1977). Anaerobic degradation of aromatic compounds in the presence of nitrate. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 1, 103–108.
Williams, R.J. and Evans, W.S. (1975). The metabolism of benzoate by Moraxella species through anaerobic nitrate respiration. Biochem J. 148, 1–10.
Bak, F. and Widdel, F. (1986). Anaerobic degradation of phenol and phenol derivatives by Desulfobacterium phenolicum sp. nov. Arch.Microbiol. 146, 177–180.
Szewzyk, R. and Pfennig, N. (1987). Complete oxidation of catechol by the strictly anaerobic sulfate-reducing Desulfobacterium catecholicum sp. nov. Arch. Microbiol. 147, 163–168.
Horowitz, A., Shelton, D.R., Cornell, C.P. and Tiedje, J.M. (1982). Anaerobic degradation of aromatic compounds in sediments and digested sludge. Dev. Ind. Microbiol. 23, 435–444.
Young, L.Y. and Rivera, M.D. (1985). Methanogenic degradation of four phenolic compounds. Water Res. 19, 1325–1332.
Bossert, I.D., Rivera, M.D. and Young, L.Y. (1986). p-Creso1 bio-degradation under denitrifying conditions: isolation of a bacterial coculture. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 38, 313–319.
Bossert, I.D. and Young, L.Y. (1986). Anaerobic oxidation of p-cresol by a denitrifying bacterium. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 52, 1117–1122.
Zeyer, J., Kuhn, E.P. and Schwarzenbach, R.P. (1986). Rapid microbial mineralization of toluene and 1,3-dimethylbenzene in the absence of molecular oxygen. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 52, 944–947.
Grbiċ-Galiċ, D. and Vogel, T.M. (1987). Transformation of toluene and benzene by mixed methanogenic cultures. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 53, 254–260.
Shelton, D.R. and Tiedje, J.M. (1984). Isolation and partial characterization of bacteria in an anaerobic consortium that mineralizes 3-chlorobenzoic acid. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 48, 840–848.
Gibson, S.A. and Suflita, J.M. (1986). Extrapolation of biodegradation results to groundwater aquifers: reductive dehalogenation of aromatic compounds. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 52, 681–688.
Boyd, S.A., Shelton, D.R., Berry, D. and Tiedje, J.M. (1983). Anaerobic biodegradation of phenolic compounds in digested sludge. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 46, 50–54.
OECD Guidelines for Testing of Chemicals. (1981). Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris, France.
Meer, J.R. v.d., Roelofsen, W., Schraa, G. and Zehnder, A.J.B. Degradation of low concentrations of dichlorobenzenes and 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene by Pseudomonas sp. strain P51 in nonsterile soil columns. FEMS-Microbial Ecol., in press.
Schraa, G., Boone, M.L., Jetten, M.S.M., van Neerven, A.R.W., Colberg, P.J. and Zehnder, A.J.B. (1986). Degradation of 1,4-di-chlorobenzene by Alcaligenes sp. strain A175. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 52, 1374–1381.
Horowitz, A., Suflita, J.M. and Tiedje, J.M. (1983). Reductive dehalogenations of halobenzoates by anaerobic lake sediment microorganisms. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 45, 1459–1465.
Boyd, S.A. and Shelton, D.R. (1984). Anaerobic biodegradation of chlorophenols in fresh and acclimated sludge. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 47, 272–277.
Alexander, M. (1985). Biodegradation of organic chemicals. Environ. Sci. Technol. 18, 106–111.
McCarty, P.L., Reinhard, M., and Rittmann, B.E. (1981). Trace organics in groundwater. Environ. Sci. Technol. 15, 40–51.
Owen, W.F., Stuckey, D.C., Healy Jr., J.B., Young, L.Y. and McCarty, P.L. (1979). Bioassay for monitoring biochemical methane potential and anaerobic toxicity. Water Res. 13, 485–492.
Nottingham, P.M. and Hungate, R.E. (1969). Methanogenic fermentation of benzoate. J. Bact. 98, 1170–1172.
Healy, Jr., J.B. and Young, L.Y. (1979). Anaerobic biodegradation of eleven aromatic compounds to methane. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 38, 84–89.
Guthrie, M.A., Kirsch, E.J., Wukasch, R.F., and Grady Jr. C.P.L. (1984). Pentachlorophenol biodegradation-II Anaerobic. Water Res. 4, 451–461.
Blum, D.J.W., Hergenroeder, R., Parkin, G.F., and Speece, R.E. (1986). Anaerobic treatment of coal conversion wastewater constituents: biodegradability and toxicity. J. Water Pollut. Control Fed. 58, 122–131.
Kuhn, E.P., Colberg, P.J., Schnoor, J.L., Wanner, O., Zehnder, A.J.B., and Schwarzenbach, R.P. (1985). Microbial transformation of substituted benzenes during infiltration of river water to groundwater: Laboratory column studies. Environ. Sci. Technol. 19, 961–968.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1988 ECSC, EEC, EAEC, Brussels and Luxembourg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Schraa, G. (1988). Anaerobic Degradation, Processes and Test Methods. In: Angeletti, G., Bjørseth, A. (eds) Organic Micropollutants in the Aquatic Environment. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2989-0_30
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2989-0_30
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7843-6
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2989-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive