Krzmarzick, Mark James2014-01-082014-01-082011-12https://hdl.handle.net/11299/162232University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. December 2011. Major: Art History. Advisor: Paige J. Novak. 1 computer file (PDF)x, 163 pages, appendices A-D.The phylum <italic>Chloroflexi</italic> contains several isolated bacteria that have been found to dechlorinate a diverse array of halogenated anthropogenic chemicals. These bacteria use organohalogens, such as polychlorinated biphenyls and trichloroethene, as their terminal electron acceptors and are called halorespirers. While the distribution and role of halorespiring <italic>Chloroflexi</italic>, as well as halorespirers in other phyla such as the <italic>Firmicutes</italic>, have been relatively well characterized in contaminated systems and laboratory cultures, their distribution and role in uncontaminated terrestrial environments, where abundant natural organohalogens could function as potential electron acceptors, has not been studied. This dissertation focuses on the distribution and role of halorespiring <italic>Chloroflexi</italic> in uncontaminated environments and investigates the ability of natural organochlorines to serve as terminal electron acceptors for halorespiring organisms.en-USThesis or Dissertation