Abstract
Past handling practices associated with the manufacturing and processing of the high explosive hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) has resulted in extensive environmental contamination. In-situ biodegradation is a promising technology for remediating RDX contaminated sites but often relies on the addition of a cosubstrate. A sulfate-reducing bacterium isolated from an RDX-degrading enrichment culture was studied for its ability to grow on RDX as a sole source of carbon and nitrogen and for its ability to mineralize RDX in the absence of a cosubstrate. The results showed the isolate degraded 140 μM RDX in 63 days when grown on RDX as a carbon source. Biomass within the carbon limited culture increased 9-fold compared to the RDX unamended controls. When the isolate was incubated with RDX as sole source of nitrogen it degraded 160 μM RDX in 41 days and exhibited a 4-fold increase in biomass compared to RDX unamended controls. Radiolabeled studies under carbon limiting conditions with 14C-hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine confirmed mineralization of the cyclic nitramine. After 60 days incubation 26% of the radiolabel was recovered as 14CO2, while in the control bottles less than 1% of the radiolabel was recovered as 14CO2. Additionally, ~2% of the radiolabeled carbon was found to be associated with the biomass. The 16S rDNA gene was sequenced and identified the isolate as a novel species of Desulfovibrio, having a 95.1% sequence similarity to Desulfovibrio desulfuricans. This is the first known anaerobic bacterium capable of mineralizing RDX when using it as a carbon and energy source for growth.
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Abbreviations
- RDX:
-
Hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine
- MNX:
-
Hexahydro-1-nitroso-3,5-dinitro-1,3,5-triazine
- DNX:
-
Hexahydro-1,3-dinitroso-5-nitro-1,3,5-triazine
- TNX:
-
Hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitroso-1,3,5-triazine
- MDNA:
-
Methylenedinitramine
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported in part by an appointment at the Research Participation Program administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education through a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and US Army Corps of Engineers. Although this research was conducted at the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory for the United States Army Engineer Research & Development Center, it has not been subjected to Army review and therefore does not necessarily reflect the views of the Army and no official endorsement should be inferred.
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Arnett, C.M., Adrian, N.R. Cosubstrate independent mineralization of hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) by a Desulfovibrio species under anaerobic conditions. Biodegradation 20, 15–26 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10532-008-9195-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10532-008-9195-1