Fernandes, Virgínia C.Albergaria, José TomásOliva-Teles, Maria TeresaDelerue-Matos, CristinaMarco, P. De2013-11-262013-11-2620090923-98201572-9729http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/2973In this work we isolated from soil and characterized several bacterial strains capable of either resisting high concentrations of heavy metals (Cd2+ or Hg2+ or Pb2+) or degrading the common soil and groundwater pollutants MTBE (methyl-tertbutyl ether) or TCE (trichloroethylene). We then used soil microcosms exposed to MTBE (50 mg/l) or TCE (50 mg/l) in the presence of one heavy metal (Cd 10 ppm or Hg 5 ppm or Pb 50 or 100 ppm) and two bacterial isolates at a time, a degrader plus a metalresistant strain. Some of these two-membered consortia showed degradation efficiencies well higher (49–182% higher) than those expected under the conditions employed, demonstrating the occurrence of a synergetic relationship between the strains used. Our results show the efficacy of the dual augmentation strategy for MTBE and TCE bioremediation in the presence of heavy metals.engBioremediationSoilHeavy metalTCEMTBECadmiumLeadMercuryjournal article10.1007/s10532-008-9228-9