16S rRNA gene sequences from simulated Permeable Reactive Barrier at laboratory-scale fed with groundwater contaminated by chlorinated solvents.

The research topic concerns the bioremediation of groundwater contaminated by chlorinated solvents. The aim of the work was to gain insights about the feasibility of 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCA) removal through an anaerobic biological process in a laboratory-scale Permeable Reactive Barrier (PRB) simulation. The PRB effect was enhanced by the use of an ecofriendly biopolymer, polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), as electron donor for reductive dechlorination reactions. The anaerobic column experimental system was run in parallel with an aerobic one. Both column systems were filled with silica sand and fed with groundwater collected from a site contaminated by chlorinated solvents (mainly 1,2-DCA); each column was inoculated with dehalogenating consortia obtained by enrichment cultures from the same groundwater. Microbial community analyzes by 16S rRNA gene metagenomic sequencing was performed on the sand (with or without PHB) collected from two portions of each column. This project contains raw 16S rRNA reads from those samples.