The National Science Foundation awarded a $214,427 Project Grant to the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to support collaborative research on microbial chain-elongation mediated dehalogenation and carbon transformation of chlorinated solvents from September 1, 2022 to August 31, 2025. The research aims to investigate using microbial chain elongation to produce the hydrogen required for Dehalococcoides mccartyi bacteria to reduce and convert perchloroethylene and trichloroethylene to ethene in groundwater bioremediation. The researchers will characterize the growth and inhibition kinetics of a consortium demonstrating this process, and model the interactions between chain elongation, methanogenesis and homoacetogenesis in organohalide-respiring microbial communities. The results have the potential to generate new knowledge and computational models advancing the development of more efficient and cost-effective bioremediation technologies using this approach.
Generated 1/7/24, 6:44 AM