Functional pathway microarray for monitoring potential for bioremediation of PAHs - feasibility study

Merja Itävaara, Mari Nyyssönen, Reetta Piskonen

    Research output: Contribution to conferenceConference articleScientific

    Abstract

    There is a great need for estimating the potential for natural biodegradation of contaminants in the environment, and the feasibility of bioremediation technologies and inoculants. Functional genes responsible for the biocatalysis of organic pollutants can usually be found in degrader microorganisms at contaminated sites. Our approach has been to develop a pathway microarray based on the determination of biodegradation activity. Instead of spotting hundreds of genes on the microarray slide, we first evaluated the potential of this technology for bioremediation monitoring purposes. The developed method was based on direct hybridization of functional genes of the PAH pathway. The gene probes were designed to study the degradation potential of several genotypes in order to be able to determine the biodegradation potential with few probes in environmental samples. In addition, the sensitivity and quantitivity were improved in several ways by e.g. including internal standards and making the conditions more stringent and optimal. The feasibility of this assay was verified by comparing several methods such as quantitative PCR and biodegradation rate in an assay based on 14-labelled substrates. The methods were compared with artificially contaminated soil samples. In addition, the success of the inoculated microbes to enhance the rate of bioremediation was monitored by PCR-DGGE, including their functional genes.
    Original languageEnglish
    Publication statusPublished - 2006
    MoE publication typeNot Eligible
    Event11th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology - Wien, Austria
    Duration: 20 Aug 200625 Aug 2006

    Conference

    Conference11th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology
    Country/TerritoryAustria
    CityWien
    Period20/08/0625/08/06

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