Monitored Natural Attenuation Forum: Environmental remediation applications of molecular biological tools

Use of Nucleic Acid-Based Tools for Monitoring Biostimulation and Bioaugmentation

“…Although this method agitates the water column and can mobilize sediment, the sample stream is often cleared up by the time the purge is complete (Stroo et al 2006). Therefore, this method may decrease the turbidity of the sample, which may result in lower concentrations of Dhc bacteria in the sample.…”

Bioremediation of Chlorinated Solvent Plumes

“…Advances in molecular biology have had a profound effect on the understanding of biologically based remedial processes and MBTs are used extensively in research and development. Although their use in the operational cleanup community remains limited at present, there is tremendous potential for use of these technologies to improve the design, implementation, field performance and monitoring of remediation technologies (Lovley, 2003;Stroo et al, 2006).…”

“…In addition to PCR, common MBTs used to evaluate sites include phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA), denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) (Stroo et al, 2006). PLFA was the first MBT to be commercialized for environmental applications, and it has been widely used at field sites.…”

Microcosm Assessment of a DNA Probe Applied to Aerobic Degradation of cis‐1,2‐Dichloroethene by Polaromonas sp. Strain JS666

“…It has been recently shown that compound-specific isotopic analysis can be useful in demonstrating aerobic biooxidation of cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cDCE), though few laboratories currently have the capability to perform these analyses (Abe et al 2009). Molecular biological tools (MBTs) that can quantify the presence of desirable microorganisms (or, better yet, their activities) in situ are useful at both the decision-making stage when evaluating alternative technologies as well as in the monitoring of an implemented bioremediation technology (Stroo et al 2006). MBTs can conceivably be based on DNA (targeting either phylogeny or genes of a degradative pathway), messenger RNA (mRNA; targeting upregulation of degradative genes), or proteins (targeting the degradative enzymes themselves).…”