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Characterization of Groundwater Microbial Communities, Dechlorinating Bacteria, and In Situ Biodegradation of Chloroethenes Along a Vertical Gradient

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Abstract

The variability of hydrogeochemical conditions can affect groundwater microbial communities and the natural attenuation of organic chemicals in contaminated aquifers. It is suspected that in situ biodegradation in anoxic plumes of chloroethenes depends on the spatial location of the contaminants and the electron donors and acceptors, as well as the patchiness of bacterial populations capable of reductive dechlorination. However, knowledge about the spatial variability of bacterial communities and in situ biodegradation of chloroethenes in aquifers is limited. Here, we show that changes of the bacterial communities, the distribution of putative dechlorinating bacteria and in situ biodegradation at the border of a chloroethenes plume (Bitterfeld, Germany) are related to local hydrogeochemical conditions. Biotic reductive dechlorination occurred along a 50 m vertical gradient, although significant changes of the hydrogeochemistry and contaminant concentrations, bacterial communities and distribution of putative dechlorinating bacteria (Dehalobacter spp., Desulfitobacterium spp., Dehalococcoides spp., and Geobacter spp.) were observed. The occurrence and variability of in situ biodegradation of chloroethenes were revealed by shifts in the isotope compositions of the chloroethenes along the vertical gradient (δ13C ranging from −14.4‰ to −4.4‰). Our results indicate that habitat characteristics were compartmentalized along the vertical gradient and in situ biodegradation occurred with specific reaction conditions at discrete depth. The polyphasic approach that combined geochemical and biomolecular methods with compound-specific analysis enabled to characterize the spatial variability of hydrochemistry, bacterial communities and in situ biodegradation of chloroethenes in a heterogeneous aquifer.

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Acknowledgments

Gwenaël Imfeld was supported by a European Union Marie Curie Early-Stage Training Fellowship (AXIOM, contract no. MEST-CT-2004-8332) fellowship. The Department of Groundwater Remediation and the SAFIRA Project of the UFZ are acknowledged for organizing field work. We wish to thank to M. Gehre, U. Günther, K. Ethner, and S. Täglich for their technical support in analytical and stable isotope measurements and F. Gillet for his support in statistical analysis.

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  1. Department of Isotope Biogeochemistry, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, 04318, Germany

    Gwenaël Imfeld, Hanna Pieper, Ivonne Nijenhuis & Hans H. Richnow

  2. Laboratory for Environmental Biotechnology, EPFL-ENAC-IIE-LBE, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland

    Noam Shani

  3. Central Environmental Laboratory, EPFL-ENAC-IIE-CEL, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland

    Pierre Rossi

  4. Department of Bioremediation, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, 04318, Germany

    Marcell Nikolausz

  5. Department of Groundwater Remediation, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, 04318, Germany

    Heidrun Paschke & Holger Weiss

  6. Laboratory of Hydrology and Geochemistry of Strasbourg (LHyGeS), University of Strasbourg/ENGEES, CNRS, 1, rue Blessig, 67 084, Strasbourg, France

    Gwenaël Imfeld

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Imfeld, G., Pieper, H., Shani, N. et al. Characterization of Groundwater Microbial Communities, Dechlorinating Bacteria, and In Situ Biodegradation of Chloroethenes Along a Vertical Gradient. Water Air Soil Pollut 221, 107–122 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-011-0774-0

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