Recently, a fascinating group of subsurface microorganisms, called Dehalococcoides, has been discovered that can dechlorinate the common solvents tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene to the benign product ethene.  Remarkably, these organisms obtain energy for growth from dechlorination and several successful demonstrations of bioaugmentation, where an aquifer is inoculated with culture, have lead to the development of a commercial market for dechlorinating cultures.

Community metagenome sequencing, DNA microarray expression analysis and metabolic modelling are being used to identify the important functional and regulatory elements in one such commercial culture called KB-1.  KB-1 is a strictly anaerobic, mixed microbial culture harbouring several Dehalococcoides that is very effective at detoxifying chloro-organic pollutants.  An understanding of the genetic and physiological diversity in the culture, as well as interspecies interactions is sought to identify key biomarkers to improve the success of bioremediation.