Protein-SIP experiment with a bacterial community enriched from a sulfidic and benzene-contaminated aquifer. Benzene degradation under sulfate-reducing conditions

A benzene-degrading, sulfate-reducing enrichment culture originating from a benzene-contaminated aquifer was investigated by a metagenome-based functional metaproteomic approach, using protein-based stable isotope probing (protein-SIP). The time-resolved, quantitative analysis of carbon fluxes within the community supplied with either 13C-labeled benzene or 13C-labeled carbonate yielded different functional groups of organisms, with their peptides showing specific time dependencies of 13C relative isotope abundance indicating different carbon utilization.