News Items: University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Superfund Research Program

Biogeochemical Controls over Corrinoid Bioavailability to Organohalide-Respiring Chloroflexi

Project Leader: Frank E. Loeffler
Co-Investigators: Jun Yan, Shawn R. Campagna
Grant Number: R01ES024294
Funding Period: 2014-2019

Program Links

News Items List

• Nitrous Oxide Halts Breakdown of Chlorinated Compounds
  Research Brief - April 2019
  A new Superfund Research Program (SRP) study showed that nitrous oxide (N2O), a groundwater contaminant commonly generated from agricultural runoff, inhibits bacterial degradation of certain chlorinated contaminants, including tetrachloroethene (PCE). The study may explain why bioremediation, or the use of bacteria to break down compounds, can stall at some hazardous waste sites.
  

• Novel Cobamide Structure May Hold Clues for More Effective Biological Degradation of Chlorinated Compounds
  Research Brief - December 2017
  Researchers at the University of Tennessee have discovered a crucial compound that helps specific bacteria degrade pollutants like tetrachloroethene (PCE). This compound, called purinyl-cobamide, assists enzymes during degradation reactions.
  

• The Effect of Corrinoid Co-factors on Bioremediation of Chlorinated Compounds
  Research Brief - March 2016
  Specific modifications to helper molecules, or co-factors, play an important role in how efficiently some bacteria can degrade toxic chlorinated pollutants. In a new study, researchers from the University of Tennessee found that specific chemical modifications to corrinoid co-factors, a group of molecules that includes vitamin B12, can affect how well bacteria degrade chlorinated pollutants such as tetrachloroethene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE).