IDENTIFICATION OF ANAEROBIC BACTERIA AND THEIR METABOLIC CAPABILITIES FOR BIOREMEDIATION

ANAEROBIC BACTERIA POSSESS METABOLIC ACTIVITIES FOR BIODEGRADING A RANGE OF POLLUTING CHEMICALS INCLUDING AROMATIC CHEMICALS, HALOGENATED AROMATICS, AND HALOGENATED ALKENES. ANAEROBES MAKE UP A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF TERRESTRIAL BACTERIA AND SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS POTENTIAL AGENTS OF BIOREMEDIATION BUT KNOWLEDGE OF THESE ORGANISMS, THEIR DIVERSITY, TAXONOMY, AND METABOLIC CAPABILITIES, IS STILL AT A RUDIMENTARY LEVEL. RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING AN EFFICIENT, EASY-TO-USE, INSTRUMENTED TEST KIT SYSTEM THAT CAN BE USED TO STUDY THE CATABOLIC CAPABILITIES OF ANAEROBES, AND TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENT SPECIES OF ANAEROBES BASED ON THOSE CAPABILITIES. THE WORK INVOLVED SURVEYING AND CATALOGING THE CATABOLIC POTENTIAL OF OVER 300 SPECIES OF ANAEROBES AGAINST NEARLY 200 ORGANIC CHEMICALS. FROM COMPUTER ANALYSIS OF THIS DATA, A SET OF 95 CARBON SOURCE UTILIZATION TESTS ARE BEING SELECTED TO BE INCORPORATED INTO A COMMERCIAL MICROPLATE TEST KIT. THE SURVEY PROVIDES AN OVERVIEW OF THE RANGE OF CATABOLIC ACTIVITIES OF ANAEROBES.