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Microbial degradation of cellulosic material under intermediate-level waste simulated conditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Naji M. Bassil ,
Alastair D. Bewsher ,
Olivia R. Thompson  and
Jonathan R. Lloyd
Naji M. Bassil
Affiliation:
Research Centre for Radwaste Disposal & Williamson Research Centre for Molecular Environmental Science, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK National Council for Scientific Research – Lebanon (CNRS-L), Beirut, Lebanon
Alastair D. Bewsher
Affiliation:
Research Centre for Radwaste Disposal & Williamson Research Centre for Molecular Environmental Science, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
Olivia R. Thompson
Affiliation:
National Nuclear Laboratory, 5th Floor, Chadwick House,Warrington Road, Birchwood Park,WarringtonWA3 6AE, UK
Jonathan R. Lloyd*
Affiliation:
Research Centre for Radwaste Disposal & Williamson Research Centre for Molecular Environmental Science, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
*
*E-mail: jon.lloyd@manchester.ac.uk
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Abstract

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Under the alkaline conditions expected in an intermediate-level waste repository, cellulosic material will undergo chemical hydrolysis. This will produce hydrolysis products, some of which can form soluble complexes with some radionuclides. Analyses of samples containing autoclaved tissue and cotton wool incubated in a saturated solution of Ca(OH)2 ( pH > 12) confirmed previous reports that isosaccharinic acid (ISA) is produced from these cellulose polymers at high pH. However, when inoculated with a sediment sample from a hyperalkaline site contaminated with lime-kiln waste, microbial activity was implicated in the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose and the subsequent production of acetate. This in turn led to acidification of the microcosms and a marked decrease in ISA production from the abiotic alkali hydrolysis of cellulose. DNA analyses of microbial communities present in the microcosms further support the hypothesis that bacterial activities can have a controlling influence on the formation of organic acids, including ISA, via an interplay between direct and indirect mechanisms. These and previous results imply that microorganisms could have a role in attenuating the mobility of some radionuclides in and around a geological disposal facility, via either the direct biodegradation of ISA or by catalysing cellulose fermentation and therefore preventing the formation of ISA.

Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 79 , Issue 6 , November 2015 , pp. 1433 - 1441
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2015. This is an open access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2015

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