Degradation of trimethylbenzene isomers by an enrichment culture under N2O-reducing conditions

Abstract

A microbial culture enriched from a diesel fuel-contaminated aquifer was able to grow on 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (1,3,5-TMB) and 1,2,4-TMB under N2O- reducing conditions, but it did not degrade 1,2,3-TMB. The oxidation of 1,3,5-TMB to CO2 was coupled to the production of biomass and the reduction of N2O. N2O was used to avoid toxic effects caused by NO2- accumulation during growth with NO3- as the electron acceptorin addition to 1,3,5-TMB and 1,2,4-TMB, the culture degraded toluene, m-xylene, ρ-xylene, 3-ethyltoluene, and 4-ethyltoluene.