Bioavailability of pollutants and chemotaxis

Krell, T., Lacal, J., Reyes-Darias, J. A., Jimenez-Sanchez, C., Sungthong, R. and Ortega-Calvo, J. J. (2013) Bioavailability of pollutants and chemotaxis. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 24(3), pp. 451-456. (doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2012.08.011) (PMID:22981870)

Abstract

The exposure of bacteria to pollutants induces frequently chemoattraction or chemorepellent reactions. Recent research suggests that the capacity to degrade a toxic compound has co-evolved in some bacteria with the capacity to chemotactically react to it. There is an increasing amount of data which show that chemoattraction to biodegradable pollutants increases their bioavailability which translates into an enhancement of the biodegradation rate. Pollutant chemoreceptors so far identified are encoded on degradation or resistance plasmids. Genetic engineering of bacteria, such as the transfer of chemoreceptor genes, offers thus the possibility to optimize biodegradation processes.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Sungthong, Dr Rungroch
• Authors: Krell, T., Lacal, J., Reyes-Darias, J. A., Jimenez-Sanchez, C., Sungthong, R., and Ortega-Calvo, J. J.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Infrastructure and Environment
• Journal Name: Current Opinion in Biotechnology
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0958-1669
• ISSN (Online): 1879-0429
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.
• First Published: First published in Current Opinion in Biotechnology 24(3):451-456
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher