Accumulation of Poly-beta-Hydroxybutyrate in a Methane-Enriched, Halogenated Hydrocarbon-Degrading Soil Column: Implications for Microbial Community Structure and Nutritional Status

摘要

The prokarotic, endogenous storage polymer poly-B-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) accumulated in soil from a methane-enriched, halogenated hydrocarbon-degrading soil column. Two strains analyzed of the type II methanotroph Methylobacterium organophilum were found to contain PHB, with PHB/PLFA ratios similar to those determined for the methane-enriched soil column, suggesting that methanotrophic bacteria enriched in the methane-amended column produced PHB. Control soil and sodium azide-inhibited material, in which methanotroph markers were below detection, did not contain PHB. Biochemical assays, based on the differences observed, can be used to monitor shifts in microbial biomass, community structure and nutritional status of systems used to model microbial biotransformation processes. The study illustrates that biochemical procedures have the potential to monitor the stimulated populations of a native soil microbial community capable of degrading pollutants. (Copyright (c) 1989 Kluwer Academic Publishers.)