K.N. Timmis D.F. Dwyer M.L. Krumme 1993 <p><span><i>Pseudomonas cepacia</i> G4 degrades trichloroethylene (TCE) via a degradation pathway for aromatic compounds which is induced by substrates such as phenol and tryptophan. <i>P. cepacia</i> G4 5223 PR1 (PR1) is a Tn5 insertion mutant which constitutively expresses the toluene <i>ortho</i>-monooxygenase responsible for TCE degradation. In groundwater microcosms, phenol-induced strain G4 and noninduced strain PR1 degraded TCE (20 and 50 μM) to nondetectable levels (&lt; 0.1 μM) within 24 h at densities of 10⁸ cells per ml; at lower densities, degradation of TCE was not observed after 48 h. In aquifer sediment microcosms, TCE was reduced from 60 to &lt; 0.1 μM within 24 h at 5 x 10⁸ PR1 organisms per g (wet weight) of sediment and from 60 to 26 μM over a period of 10 weeks at 5 x 10⁷ PR1 organisms per g. Viable G4 and PR1 cells decreased from approximately 10⁷ to 10⁴ per g over the 10-week period.</span></p> application/pdf 10.1128/aem.59.8.2746-2749.1993 en American Society for Microbiology Degradation of trichloroethylene by Pseudomonas cepacia G4 and the constitutive mutant strain G4 5223 PR1 in aquifer microcosms article