生物信息学技术

Pentachlorophenol (PCP) is an envuonmentally persistent chemical that is toxic toward living organisms (1-4) The widespread use of PCP as a general biocide, especially for timber preservation, has led to the contamination of a variety of environments with this chemical (5,6). In particul ...

White rot fungi are the only known organisms capable of completely degrad- ing lignin to CO2 and H2O (see Chapter 1). Lignin, a complex three-dimen- sional molecule, is the most abundant aromatic polymer in the biosphere and IS responsible for providing structural support to woody plants. The irre ...

Microorganisms are highly versatile in utilizing a wide variety of compounds as sources of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and other nutrients. The catabolic potential of microorganisms can be exploited to destroy undesired pollutants, a process that is now called bioremediatron. The succ ...

The determination of trace metal concentration is a common procedure m environmental and biological sciences. Analytical methods available include atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy (ICP), neutron activation analysis (NAA), ...

Organotins are compounds with one or more carbon-tin bonds. Addition of an organo-moiety to tin increases its volatility, its lipid solubility and adsorptivrty, and its toxicity to many organisms. Tin can have a valence of 2+ or 4+ but Sn4+ predominates in the environment. Of the tin mined each year, abo ...

It is now well established that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) may be reductively dechlorinated by anaerobic microorganisms found in sediments (1-12). This is a potentially important environmental fate of PCBs because the lesser chlorinated congeners formed tend to be more aero ...

Treatability studies are critical for successful implementation of both in situ and ex situ bioremediation technologies. Few contaminated sites are identical and experience can only be applied within limits Many variables governing the efficacy of bioremediation processes a ...

Although petroleum hydrocarbons have been known to be biodegradable for decades (1-5), use of microbial cultures to enhance natural biodegradation (bioaugmentation) has met with limited success (6-10). Despite the paucity of controlled field studies demonstrating the effecti ...

Biosurfactants are a chemically unique class of compounds produced by many bacterial and fungal genera. There are several thorough reviews concerning types of biosurfactants produced (1,2). This chapter addresses experimental methodology concerning one potential applica ...

Microencapsulation of bacteria is a technique that offers some advantages to the scientist interested in bioremediation applications. Several studies have demonstrated the utility of using immobilized cells in btoreactor (see Chapter 6) or bioremediation settings (it1-it4 ...

Immobilizatton of bacteria (see Chapter 5), for example by entrapment within a gel bead or by attachment on a surface, greatly improves broreactor performance. When compared to their free-cell counterparts, tmmobrlized-cell bacterial bioreactors have higher productivity per un ...

Petroleum products (e.g., gasoline, diesel fuel, creosote) that pollute soil and water are often removed usmg bioremediation that depends on the activities of hydrocarbon-degrading microorganisms. Typically, nutrients and/or electron acceptors are placed in the site to stimula ...

The technique of selective broaccumulation of heavy metals by microbral systems offers a possrble approach for the remediation of contaminated water bodies. Although heavy metal bioaccumulation is a well known and understood process and has been used on a small scale wrth some success, pr ...

Methane-oxidizmg bacteria (methanotrophs) are a unique group of bacteria that grow on methane as then sole source of carbon and energy. They can be isolated from a wide variety of marme and freshwater environments, soils, and sediments and appear to be ubiquitous in the natural environment. They ...

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are important environmental contaml- nants. They are widely distributed and have been associated with toxic effects in wildlife, such as deformities and lowered reproductive success (1), and with hepatic tumors in rats (2,3). They can enter the human fo ...

Alkenylbenzenes, such as α-methylstyrene,β-methylstyrene, and styrene, are produced in large quantities by the petrochemical industry (Fig. 1). The majority of studies have concentrated on the simplest of all alkenylbenzenes, styrene. It is a colorless, odorous liquid used both as a st ...

Several metals (see also chapter 7 and chapter 11) are essential for biological systems and must be present in a certam concentration range. Too low concentrations lead to a decrease in metabolic activity. At too high concentrations these metals lead to toxicity. Nonessential metals are tole ...

Determining the fate and transport of contaminants in soil systems (see Chapters 17 and 21) is important for developing cost-effective treatment strategies. Models are required to apply bench-scale data for designing and effectively operating pilot-scale treatment systems and to ...

The advent of molecular techniques has greatly influenced yeast taxonomy. Although it has become easier to identify an unknown organism, the use of these methods has caused a general reassessment of those tests previously considered important for the classification of yeasts.

As a key cell organelle, with its own semiautonomous genetic system, the mitochondrion and its enclosed DNA (mt DNA) have been the target of a huge amount of research using the methods of molecular biology (see, e.g., refs. 1,2). Saccharomyces cerevisiae has, of course, been a particular focus of attent ...