Life Sciences Commons^™

Effect Of Benzene And Ethylbenzene On The Transcription Of Methyl-Tert-Butyl Ether Degradation Genes Of Methylibium Petroleiphilum Pm1, Geetika Joshi, Radomir Schmidt, Kate M. Scow, Michael S. Denison, Krassimira R. Hristova

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Methyl-tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and its degradation by-product, tert-butyl alcohol (TBA), are widespread contaminants detected frequently in groundwater in California. Since MTBE was used as a fuel oxygenate for almost two decades, leaking underground fuel storage tanks are an important source of contamination. Gasoline components such as BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes) are often present in mixtures with MTBE and TBA. Investigations of interactions between BTEX and MTBE degradation have not yielded consistent trends, and the molecular mechanisms of BTEX compounds’ impact on MTBE degradation are not well understood. We investigated trends in transcription of biodegradation genes …