Kan Wu
PhD candidate
University of Toronto
PhD student in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Waterloo with a unique blend of experience working with engineers and academics involved in drinking water/wastewater treatment, groundwater remediation, nanotechnology, and public health. Specializing in research and development, I have extensive experience with data analysis and interpretation, computer modelling and coding, laboratory and field work, and research project management. Fields of expertise include groundwater remediation (activated carbon particulate amendments and chemical oxidation), wastewater treatment (sludge handling/processing, PPCP modeling and impact analysis, and OSPW treatment), and water treatment (system design and advanced oxidation processes (particularly TiO2-UV treatment)).
PRESENTATION TITLE
Anaerobic Biodegradation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Powdered Activated Carbon Groundwater Systems: A Modelling Investigation
Benzene is a compound on the priority substance list because it is carcinogenic at low concentration, naturally existent in gasoline (1 vol%), and persistent under anaerobic environments. Although many anerobic bacterial consortia have been shown to be able to degrade benzene, no biochemical information was obtained from any of them. The whole proteome was extracted from a nitrate reducing benzene degrading enrichment culture, and the soluble fraction was partially purified through blue native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (BN-PAGE). A distinctively profound band was observed with a mass estimation of 480 kDa, which was dominated by two proteins that were previously proposed to be involved in the activation of benzene. AlphaFold and Dali were applied to predict and analyze the structure of the enzyme complex, and it is most likely a hetero-hexamer. The result gives us more confidence in the current biomarker used for tracking in-situ benzene biodegradation.