Grantee Research Project Results
Patterns and Prediction: Molecular Analyses of PAH-Degrading Microbial Populations and Their Function in Real Contaminant Mixture Environment
EPA Grant Number: R829357Title: Patterns and Prediction: Molecular Analyses of PAH-Degrading Microbial Populations and Their Function in Real Contaminant Mixture Environment
Investigators: Inskeep, William P. , Colores, Gregory C. , Ward, David M.
Current Investigators: Inskeep, William P. , Ward, David M. , Colores, Gregory C. , Hamamura, Natsuko
Institution: Montana State University - Bozeman
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: October 1, 2001 through September 30, 2004 (Extended to September 30, 2005)
Project Amount: $634,430
RFA: Complex Chemical Mixtures (2000) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Hazardous Waste/Remediation , Land and Waste Management , Safer Chemicals
Description:
The goals of our proposed interdisciplinary effort in environmental chemistry and microbial ecology are centered on linking molecular and functional analysis of microbial populations important in soil environments contaminated with different complex mixtures with the degradation and subsequent fate of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In collaboration with environmental managers at the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, we will select a set of field sites contaminated with different mixture types (creosote, crude oil, diesel oil) and compare them with paired, artificially contaminated soil columns (macrocosms) that will enable us to examine the spatio-temporal dynamics of PAH-degrading microbial populations as influenced by contaminant mixture type, geographic location and compositional changes within mixtures related to transport phenomena. We will use contemporary molecular methods such as 16S rDNA and functional gene analysis to determine relationships between changes in mixture component chemistry and the succession of microbial populations responsible for PAH degradation in real soil-water environments. We will also develop novel molecular methods that enable us to link the degradation of PAHs with specific microbial populations. The proposed work will demonstrate that an understanding of the physical, chemical and biological determinants of niche diversity combined with novel methods to study population dynamics in complex mixture environments will improve our ability to model and predict microbial degradation rates of PAHs and provide ecologically sound foundations for designing effective bioremediation strategies.
Publications and Presentations:
Publications have been submitted on this project: View all 2 publications for this projectJournal Articles:
Journal Articles have been submitted on this project: View all 2 journal articles for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
chemical transport, ecological effects, bioavailability, toxics, bacteria, biology, ecology, environmental chemistry, Northwest, Montana (MT), EPA region 8, petroleum., RFA, Scientific Discipline, Waste, Geographic Area, Water, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Environmental Chemistry, Contaminated Sediments, Chemistry, chemical mixtures, Fate & Transport, Hazardous Waste, Environmental Monitoring, Ecology and Ecosystems, Ecological Risk Assessment, Hazardous, EPA Region, complex mixtures, fate and transport, biogeochemical partitioning, fate, fate and transport , microbial degradation, biodegradation, contaminated sediment, PAH metal mixtures, contaminant biodegradation rates, hazardous organic substances, chemical contaminants, chemical transport, environmental transport and fate, chemical kinetics, Region 8, hazardous chemicals, crude oil, molecular biology, contaminated soils, analytical models, contaminant transport modelsProgress and Final Reports:
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.