Abstract
An aerobic, methane-utilizing bacterium (methanotroph, strain M) was isolated that degraded trichloroethylene (TCE) in a pure culture at a high concentration, 10ppm. Strain M used methane or methanol as the sole carbon and energy source for growth, and no growth occurred on nutrient broth or glucose. The strain exhibited intracv toplasmic membranes along the cell periphery, and the taxonomical properties indicated that strain M was a new methanotroph belonging to obligate type II. In addition, strain M was able to degrade not only TCE, but also halogenated alkenes (i.e., 1, 1-dichloroethylene, both cis- and trans-1, 2-dichloroethylene, and 1, 2-dibromoethylene) and alkanes (i.e., 1, 1, 2-trichloroethane, 1, 2-dichloroethane and chloroform), but not tetrachloroethylene, 1, 1, 1-trichloroethane, carbon tetrachloride or aromatic compounds.
