Environmentally relevant microorganisms

• Published in: Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering Vol. 89; no. 1; pp. 1 - 11
• Main Authors: Watanabe, Kazuya, Baker, Paul W.
• Format: Book Review Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdarm Elsevier B.V 2000; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: ACTIVATED SLUDGE; BIODECONTAMINACION; Biodegradation of pollutants; Biological and medical sciences; BIOREMEDIATION; BIOTECHNOLOGIE; BIOTECHNOLOGY; BIOTECNOLOGIA; BOUE ACTIVEE; ECOLOGIA MICROBIANA; ECOLOGIE MICROBIENNE; Environment and pollution; environmental biotechnology; ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Industrial applications and implications. Economical aspects; LODOS ACTIVADOS; MICROBIAL ECOLOGY; MICROORGANISME; MICROORGANISMOS; MICROORGANISMS; molecular microbial ecology; PROTECCION AMBIENTAL; PROTECTION DE L'ENVIRONNEMENT; bioremediation; molecular microbial ecology; environmental biotechnology; activated sludge; Biotechnology; Pollutant; Analysis method; Environment; Ecology; Physiology; Review; Bioremediation; Molecular biology; Microbial community
• ISSN: 1389-1723; 1347-4421
• DOI: 10.1016/S1389-1723(00)88043-3

The development of molecular microbial ecology in the 1990s has allowed scientists to realize that microbial populations in the natural environment are much more diverse than microorganisms so far isolated in the laboratory. This finding has exerted a significant impact on environmental biotechnology, since knowledge in this field has been largely dependent on studies with pollutant-degrading bacteria isolated by conventional culture methods. Researchers have thus started to use molecular ecological methods to analyze microbial populations relevant to pollutant degradation in the environment (called environmentally relevant microorganisms, ERMs), although further effort is needed to gain practical benefits from these studies. This review highlights the utility and limitations of molecular ecological methods for understanding and advancing environmental biotechnology processes. The importance of the combined use of molecular ecological and physiological methods for identifying ERMs is stressed.