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Census - Gasoline – MTBE and TBA Table Remediation
Aerobic biodegradation of MTBE and the intermediate TBA has been extensively studied in the laboratory and documented in the field. However, Methylibium petroleiphilum PM1 remains one of the few bacterial cultures isolated to date that utilizes MTBE and TBA as growth supporting substrates. The key steps in aerobic MTBE/TBA biodegradation by strain PM1 is the initial oxidation mediated by a monooxygenase and the continued biodegradation of TBA catalyzed by TBA hydroxylase.
Particularly outside the US, ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE) and tert-amyl methyl ether (TAME) were also employed as fuel oxygenates. Aerobic ETBE biodegradation is initiated by a cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (ethB). As with many of the monooxygenases, ethB exhibits relaxed specificity and will co-oxidize MTBE and TAME to TBA and tert-amyl alcohol (TAA), respectively.
QuantArray®-Petro includes quantification of M. petroleiphilum PM1, TBA monooxygenase, and ethB as described below. In addition, QuantArray®-Petro includes a suite of assays targeting functional genes involved in aerobic and anaerobic pathways for biodegradation of BTEX and other petroleum hydrocarbons. Alternatively, CENSUS® qPCR can be performed to quantify a select subset of targets such as strain PM1 and TBA monooxygenase.