Bioelectrochemically-assisted degradation of chloroform by a co-culture of Dehalobacter and Dehalobacterium

Using bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) to provide electrochemically generated hydrogen is a promising technology to provide electron donors for reductive dechlorination by organohalide-respiring bacteria. In this study, we inoculated two syntrophic dechlorinating cultures containing Dehalobacter and Dehalo-bacterium to sequentially transform chloroform (CF) to acetate in a BES using a graphite fiber brush as the electrode. In this co-culture, Dehalobacter transformed CF to stoichiometric amounts of dichloromethane (DCM) via organohalide respiration, whereas the Dehalobacterium-containing culture converted DCM to acetate via fermentation. BES were initially inoculated with Dehalobacter, and sequential cathodic po-tentials of-0.6,-0.7, and-0.8 V were poised after consuming three CF doses (500 mM) per each po-tential during a time-span of 83 days. At the end of this period, the accumulated DCM was degraded in the following seven days after the inoculation of Dehalobacterium. At this point, four consecutive amendments of CF at increasing concentrations of 200, 400, 600, and 800 mM were sequentially trans-formed by the combined degradation activity of Dehalobacter and Dehalobacterium. The Dehalobacter 16S rRNA gene copies increased four orders of magnitude during the whole period. The coulombic efficiencies associated with the degradation of CF reached values > 60% at a cathodic potential of-0.8 V when the degradation rate of CF achieved the highest values. This study shows the advantages of combining syntrophic bacteria to fully detoxify chlorinated compounds in BESs and further expands the use of this technology for treating water bodies impacted with pollutants. (C) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences, Harbin Institute of Technology, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences.

Automated summary

This study investigated the sequential transformation of chloroform to acetate using bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) and syntrophic dechlorinating cultures. The results showed the advantages of combining bacteria to fully detoxify chlorinated compounds in BESs, expanding the application of this technology for treating polluted water bodies.