MnDRIVE Funded Research by Sebastian Behrens Published in Scientific Reports Today

Environmental genomic survey provides new insights into microbial processes that form and degrade halogenated organic compounds

An international team of researchers led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sebastian Behrens sifted through the complete genomic inventory of a pristine forest soil to uncover the diversity, abundance, and distribution of genes encoding for halogenating and dehalogenating enzymes. Existing evidence suggested that the cycling of halogens (e.g. chlorine, bromine) through the transformation of inorganic halides into organohalogen compounds and vice versa in soils is largely driven by microbial processes. However, the key enzymatic catalysts and the groups of microorganisms involved in these biological reactions in pristine soils have largely been unknown so far. The results have implications for the use of halogens as a tracer of soil-water. They also represent a step towards an increased understanding of natural sources and sinks of organohalogen compounds in the environment, and raise questions about the importance of natural microbial halogen cycling for atmospheric chemistry, earth climate, and bioremediation.

Read the article in the journal Scientific Reports.

Publication:
Weigold, P. et al. A metagenomic-based survey of microbial (de)halogenation potential in a German forest soil. Sci. Rep. 6, 28958; doi: 10.1038/srep28958 (2016).

Contact: 
Sebastian F. Behrens, Associate Professor

University of Minnesota
BioTechnology Institute
140 Gortner Labs
1479 Gortner Avenue
Office – Snyder Hall, Room #338
St. Paul, MN 55108-6106, USA
office phone: 612-624-8454
e-mail: sbehrens@umn.edu