Improving the biodegradative capacity of subsurface bacteria
The continual release of large volumes of synthetic materials into the environment by agricultural and industrial sources over the last few decades has resulted in pollution of the subsurface environment. Cleanup has been difficult because of the relative inaccessibility of the contaminants caused by their wide dispersal in the deep subsurface, often at low concentrations and in large volumes. As a possible solution for these problems, interest in the introduction of biodegradative bacteria for in situ remediation of these sites has increased greatly in recent years (Timmis et al. 1988). Selection of biodegradative microbes to apply in such cleanup is limited to those strains that can survive among the native bacterial and predator community members at the particular pH, temperature, and moisture status of the site (Alexander, 1984). The use of microorganisms isolated from subsurface environments would be advantageous because the organisms are already adapted to the subsurface conditions. The options are further narrowed to strains that are able to degrade the contaminant rapidly, even in the presence of highly recalcitrant anthropogenic waste mixtures, and in conditions that do not require addition of further toxic compounds for the expression of the biodegradative capacity (Sayler et al. 1990). These obstacles can be overcome by placing the genes of well-characterized biodegradative enzymes under the control of promoters that can be regulated by inexpensive and nontoxic external factors and then moving the new genetic constructs into diverse groups of subsurface microbes. ne objective of this research is to test this hypothesis by comparing expression of two different toluene biodegradative enzymatic pathways from two different regulatable promoters in a variety of subsurface isolates.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 10157720
- Report Number(s):
- PNL-SA-21765; CONF-930482-7; ON: DE93013171; TRN: 93:016363
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2. international symposium on in situ and on-site bioreclamation,San Diego, CA (United States),5-8 Apr 1993; Other Information: PBD: Apr 1993
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Cometabolic biotransformation of 1,4-dioxane in mixtures with hexavalent chromium using attached and planktonic bacteria
In-situ bioremediation via horizontal wells
Related Subjects
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
SOILS
REMEDIAL ACTION
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
BIODEGRADATION
BACTERIA
PH VALUE
PLASMIDS
BIOCHEMISTRY
ESCHERICHIA COLI
PSEUDOMONAS
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
RHODOSPIRILLUM
540250
540220
550200
054000
550700
SITE RESOURCE AND USE STUDIES
CHEMICALS MONITORING AND TRANSPORT
HEALTH AND SAFETY
MICROBIOLOGY