• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 2003

In this study, potential degradation of MTBE and other gasoline oxygenates by pure culture ENV425 and mixed culture isolated from gasoline contaminated soil using butane as the sources of carbon and energy was examined and compared. Butane monooxygenases(BMO) of butane-grown ENV425 and mixed culture generated 1-butanol as a major metabolite of butane oxidation and addition of acetylene, specific inhibitor of monooxygenase, inhibited both butane oxidation and 1-butanol production. The results described in this study suggest that alkanes including propane, pentane, and butane are effectively utilized as a growth substrate to oxidize MTBE cometabolically. And also BTEX compounds could be the potential substrate of the MTBE cometabolism. Cell density also affected on the MTBE degradation and transformation capacity(Tc). Increasing cell density caused increasing MTBE degradation but decreased transformation capacity. Other result demonstrated that MTBE and other gasoline oxygenates, ETBE and TAME, were degraded by butane-grown microorganism.