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Bioaugmentation

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Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology Protocols

Part of the book series: Springer Protocols Handbooks ((SPH))

Abstract

The ability of microorganisms to transform pollutants is well documented. However, in many cases microbial communities with the desired capabilities may develop too slowly or may not be sustained. In these cases, manipulation of the microbial composition may be advantageous. Bioremediation has been established as an environmental friendly treatment capable of improving the removal of the contaminants in natural and environmentally systems by circumventing insufficient response time and initiating the removal with a minimal lag phase. Bioremediation exploits the microbial ability to transform contaminants into less harmful compounds. Bioremediation techniques encompass natural attenuation, biostimulation, and bioaugmentation. While natural attenuation and biostimulation by indigenous microorganisms might work for certain applications, bioaugmentation using microbial populations with specialized capabilities for degrading the contaminants is often advantageous, and will be the focus of this chapter.

Bioaugmentation has been widely applied to assist bioremediation, but it has also frequently been associated with significant challenges and limited success, which is most likely due to lack of information leading to inappropriate application strategies.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, More Hall 201, Box 352700, Seattle, WA, 98195-2700, USA

    Heidi L. Gough

  2. Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Fredrik Bajers Vej 7H, DK-9220, Aalborg, Denmark

    Jeppe L. Nielsen

Authors
  1. Heidi L. Gough
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  2. Jeppe L. Nielsen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jeppe L. Nielsen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex , Colchester, Essex, United Kingdom

    Terry J. McGenity

  2. Institute of Microbiology, Technical University Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany

    Kenneth N. Timmis

  3. Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands and Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA, UIB-CSIC), Palma de Mallorca, Spain

    Balbina Nogales

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© 2016 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Gough, H.L., Nielsen, J.L. (2016). Bioaugmentation. In: McGenity, T., Timmis, K., Nogales, B. (eds) Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology Protocols. Springer Protocols Handbooks. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/8623_2016_205

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/8623_2016_205

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-53110-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-53111-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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