Summary Dehalobacter sp. strain UNSWDHB can dechlorinate up to 4 mM trichloromethane at a rate of 0.1 mM per day to dichloromethane and 1,1,2‐trichloroethane (1 mM, 0.1 mM per day) with the unprecedented product profile of 1,2‐dichloroethane and vinyl chloride. 1,1,1‐trichloroethane and 1,1‐dichloroethane were slowly utilized by strain UNSWDHB and were not completely removed, with minimum threshold concentrations of 0.12 mM an...

Summary Chloroform (CF, CHCl 3 ) is a recalcitrant and toxic environmental pollutant. In this communication we report for the first time a microbial community capable of complete CF dechlorination by metabolic processes. Cultures derived from subsurface soil (3.5 m) could sustain complete dechlorination of CF at levels of least 360 µM at a rate of 40 µM per day. Scrutiny of CF dechlorination revealed two metabolic processes at...

Summary The success of engineered microbiological systems is evident in the global application of activated sludge communities to remediate coking effluent. However, there is a lack of understanding of the microbiology underlying treatment efficiency and stability. In this study, two functionally distinct activated sludge pools, treating the same effluent and operating under the same conditions, were examined to establish a re...

Summary The role of intercellular signalling in the regulation of genes and phenotypes in a broad range of bacterial species is now firmly established. In contrast, the impact of intercellular signalling on microbial community parameters, such as species diversity and function, is less well understood. In this study the role of N ‐acyl‐ l ‐homoserine lactones (AHLs) in microbial community dynamics in an industrial wastewater t...

Summary Stable isotope probing (SIP) of nucleic acids allows the detection and identification of active members of natural microbial populations that are involved in the assimilation of an isotopically labelled compound into nucleic acids. SIP is based on the separation of isotopically labelled DNA or rRNA by isopycnic density gradient centrifugation. We have developed a highly sensitive protocol for the detection of ‘light’ a...