Author(s)

R. Reiss & P. Guerra

Abstract

Enzyme assays for estimating first-order rate constants of 1,2-dichloroethane biodegradation in groundwater I Department of Biology, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technologv Socorro, New Mexico, USA. 2 AMCE Earth & Environmental, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Abstract Conventional methods for estimating the biodegradation rate of 1,2- dichloroethane contamination in the subsurface consist of measuring respiration byproducts or culturing bacteria from aquifer in a reactor. Compared with these conventional methods, assays using protein extracted from groundwater samples offered comprehensive and rapid results. Two assays were developed 1) the specific activity and 2) the kinetic rate constants for the rate-limiting, hydrolytic enzyme, haloalkane dehalogenase. The first step in each assay was to extract total protein from the entire consortium of microbes in a fresh groundwater sample. This was accomplished by centrifuging the groundwater sample, resuspending and sonicating the pellet, and

Keywords