Author(s)

Piyali Mukherjee, Pranab Roy

Department of Biotechnology, Burdwan University, Burdwan, India.

The aim of this research work was to isolate microbes from soil, to investigate their potential use as effective bioremediation tools for trichloroethylene—a potent environmental pollutant. The isolate showing good growth in presence of TCE was named PM102. Microbiological characterisation of the PM102 isolate showed that it was a gram negative rod. Detailed structure was revealed by scanning electron microscopy. pH and temperature optima, salt tolerance and optimum TCE concentration for growth of PM102 were determined. The ability of this bacterium to degrade TCE was studied in acidic and neutral pH by biochemical test and chloride release. Five TCE inducible bands were detected in the protein profile of the isolate as studied by SDS PAGE. A major TCE inducible band of 51.61 kDa was excised from the gel and injected into rabbit to raise specific antibody. The bacterium was identified as Stenotrophomonas maltophilia PM102 by 16S rDNA amplification and sequencing. The 16S rRNA gene sequence has been deposited in the NCBI GenBank with accession number JQ797560. This genus has not been described previously as being capable of TCE degradation. We report for the first time a Stenotrophomonas sp. that grows on TCE as the sole carbon source.

Trichloroethylene; Sole Carbon Source; Bioremediation

Mukherjee, P. and Roy, P. (2012) Identification and Characterisation of a Bacterial Isolate Capable of Growth on Trichloroethylene as the Sole Carbon Source. Advances in Microbiology, 2, 284-294. doi: 10.4236/aim.2012.23034.