Effect of substrate interaction on the degradation of methyl tert-butyl ether, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene by Rhodococcus sp

Eun Hee Lee, Kyung Suk Cho

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

50 Scopus citations

Abstract

It was examined the substrate interactions of benzene (B), tolulene (T), ethylbenzene (E), xylene (X), and methyl tert-butyl ether (M) in binary, ternary, quaternary, and quinary mixtures by Rhodococcus sp. EH831 that could aerobically degrade all of five single components. The specific degradation rates (SDRs) of B, T, E, X, and M were 234, 913, 131, 184 and 139 μmol g-dry cell weight (DCW)-1 h-1, respectively. In binary, ternary, quaternary, and quinary mixtures of them, ethylbenzene was the strongest inhibitor for the other substrates, and methyl tert-butyl ether was the weakest inhibitor. Interestingly, no degradation of benzene and methyl tert-butyl ether was found in the coexistence of ethylbenzene. The degradation of benzene followed only after toluene became exhausted when both was present. Ethylbenzene was least inhibited by methyl tert-butyl ether and most inhibited by toluene.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)669-674
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Hazardous Materials
Volume167
Issue number1-3
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Aug 2009

Keywords

  • Biodegradation
  • BTEX
  • Interaction
  • MTBE
  • Rhodococcus sp

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