Genetic Engineering of Bacteria from Managed and Natural Habitats

Abstract

The genetic modification of bacteria from natural and managed habitats will impact on the management of agricultural and environmental settings. Potential applications include crop production and protection, degradation or sequestration of environmental pollutants, extraction of metals from ores, industrial fermentations, and productions of enzymes, diagnostics, and chemicals. Applications of this technology will ultimately include the release of beneficial agents in the environment. If safely deployed, genetically modified bacteria should be able to provide significant benefits in the management of environmental systems and in the development of new environmental control processes.

The microbial remediation of former gasworks sites: A review

“…At present genetic engineering studies have been limited in application to laboratory microcosms where the potential for their wider application has appeared promising (110). The use of genetically engineered microbes in the clean up of a contaminated site remains untested (108). The future application of genetically engineered micro-organisms in site remediation is likely to depend on both the inherent scientific feasibility and success of the technique and the results of the wider ecological and social debate concerning the safety and morals of genetic manipulation as a whole (111,112).…”

Cultural and Environmental Factors Associated with Winter Injury to Apple in Northern Eastern Canada

“…While there have been many studies of cold resistance and metabolic change in Malus woody tissue, (Brown, 1978;Khanizadeh et al, 1989aKhanizadeh et al, , 1989bKhanizadeh et al, , 1992aKhanizadeh et al, , 1994Li, 1987;Sakai and Larcher, 1987), types of freezing injury (Granger, 1981;Weiser, 1970); breeding hardy cultivars or using hardy intermediate framestocks (Granger et al, 1991(Granger et al, , 1992(Granger et al, , 1993Spangelo et al, 1974;Stushnoff, 1972); inactivating ice-nucleating bacteria (Lindow and Connell, 1984;Lindow et al, 1989); use of chemical cryoprotectants (Ketchie and Murren, 1976); cultural manipulation to slow growth and induce wood maturity in early autumn (Collins et al, 1978;Stang et al, 1978); and autumn sprays of growth regulators to delay bud break, no study has been done of the relationship between the cultivar, rootstock, environmental conditions and cultural practices in relation to winter injury in Quebec orchards.…”

Ecological Context for Examining the Effects of Transgenic Crops in Production Systems

“…Except for preliminary investigations into genetic engineering for resistance against bacteria (Lindow, Panopoulos, and McFarland, 1989), transgenic crops thus far have only been field tested for viruses. Two genetically engineered virus-resistant crops have been released for production (Fuchs and Gonsalves, 1997), and at least ten more have been developed and tested experimentally (Fuchs and Gonsalves, 1997;Kahl and Winter, 1995).…”