Mary A. Voytek Michelle M. Lorah Julie D. Kirshtein Elizabeth Jones 2006 <p><span>Mixed cultures capable of dechlorinating chlorinated ethanes and ethenes were enriched from contaminated wetland sediment at Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) Maryland. The “West Branch Consortium” (WBC-2) was capable of degrading 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane (TeCA), trichloroethene (TCE), </span><i>cis</i><span> and </span><i>trans</i><span> 1,2-dichloroethene (DCE), 1,1,2-trichloroethane (TCA), 1,2-dichloroethane, and vinyl chloride to nonchlorinated end products ethene and ethane. WBC-2 dechlorinated TeCA, TCA, and </span><i>cis</i><span>DCE rapidly and simultaneously. A </span><i>Clostridium</i><span> sp. phylogenetically closely related to an uncultured member of a TCE-degrading consortium was numerically dominant in the WBC-2 clone library after 11 months of enrichment in culture. Clostridiales, including Acetobacteria, comprised 65% of the bacterial clones in WBC-2, with Bacteroides (14%), and epsilon Proteobacteria (14%) also numerically important. Methanogens identified in the consortium were members of the class Methanomicrobia, which includes acetoclastic methanogens. </span><i>Dehalococcoides</i><span>did not become dominant in the culture, although it was present at about 1% in the microbial population. The WBC-2 consortium provides opportunities for the </span><i>in situ</i><span>bioremediation of sites contaminated with mixtures of chlorinated ethenes and ethanes.</span></p> application/pdf 10.1080/10889860601021399 en Taylor & Francis Characterization of a microbial consortium capable of rapid and simultaneous dechlorination of 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane and chlorinated ethane and ethene intermediates: article