Vertical distribution of dehalogenating bacteria in mangrove sediment and their potential to remove polybrominated diphenyl ether contamination

Ying Pan, Juan Chen, Haichao Zhou, Shazia Farzana, Nora F.Y. Tam

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

31 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The removal and degradation of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in sediments are not clear. The vertical distribution of total and dehalogenating bacteria in sediment cores collected from a typical mangrove swamp in South China and their intrinsic degradation potential were investigated. These bacterial groups had the highest abundances in surface sediments (0–5 cm). A 5-months microcosm experiment also showed that surface sediments had the highest rate to remove BDE-47 than deeper sediments (5–30 cm) under anaerobic condition. The deeper sediments, being more anaerobic, had lower population of dehalogenating bacteria leading to a weaker BDE-47 removal potential than surface sediments. Stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that Dehalococcoides spp. were the most important dehalogenating bacteria affecting the anaerobic removal of BDE-47 in mangrove sediments. This is the first study reporting that mangrove sediments harbored diverse groups of dehalogenating bacteria and had intrinsic potential to remove PBDE contamination.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1055-1062
Number of pages8
JournalMarine Pollution Bulletin
Volume124
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Nov 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Anaerobic degradation
  • Functional bacteria
  • Mangrove
  • PBDEs

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