Microbial oxidation and bioluminescence response for toluene and trichloroethylene

Two Pseudomonas strains, P. putida F1 and P. putida TVA8, were used to evaluate biodegradation of toluene and cometabolism of trichloroethylene (TCE) in batch systems. Both organisms effectively utilized toluene although at different rates. The extent of TCE cometabolism was dependent upon the initial mass of toluene present. A relationship between toluene/TCE degradation and bioluminescence production for P. putida TVA8 was explored. A linear relationship between the total amount of toluene degraded and total bioluminescence was found. The slope of this straight line, however, was found to vary between experiments. To overcome this problem, a normalization method was proposed and successful tested.