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Biochemistry of microbial degradation pp 555–570Cite as

Biocorrosion: the action of sulphate-reducing bacteria

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Abstract

One of the most characteristic features of microbial degradation is that it involves not individual organisms growing in axenic culture but rather mixed communities of species with differing but complementary metabolic capabilities. Often such consortia demonstrate structural as well as functional organisation and exist in the form of flocs or biofilms within which there are likely to be localized microenvironments, each with a particular combination of organisms and physico-chemical conditions. Such biofilms are ubiquitous in nature being found, for example, on soil and sediment particles, and on the surfaces of teeth, ships and off-shore oil production platforms. In controlled processes of biodegradation and biotransformation they are the active component of trickling filters and the various forms of immobilized cell and fixed bed reactors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Marischal College, University, Aberdeen, AB9 1AS, Scotland, UK

    W. A. Hamilton

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  1. W. A. Hamilton
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Biology, University of Hull, Hull, UK

    Colin Ratledge

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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Hamilton, W.A. (1994). Biocorrosion: the action of sulphate-reducing bacteria. In: Ratledge, C. (eds) Biochemistry of microbial degradation. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1687-9_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1687-9_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-4738-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-1687-9

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