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Aerobic Utilization of Hydrocarbons, Oils, and Lipids pp 785–793Cite as

Rational Construction of Bacterial Strains with New/Improved Catabolic Capabilities for the Efficient Breakdown of Environmental Pollutants

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Part of the book series: Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology ((HHLM))

Abstract

Although numerous bacteria capable of degrading environmental pollutants have been isolated, characterized and used in bioremediation processes, many compounds of environmental concern such as PCBs, dioxins, and explosives are still hardly biodegradable. The emerging methodologies of genetic engineering, although considered as highly promising for the construction of “superbugs,” largely failed to create the requested recombinant hyperdegraders with catabolical enzymes exhibiting novel and/or highly improved features, apart from very few exceptions. The generation of these “superbugs” will require additional cellular evolution and a more profound understanding and fine-tuning of genetic regulation which could be helped by the exploitation of the metagenome and novel strategies in synthetic biology.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Protection, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Granada, Spain

    R.-M. Wittich, P. van Dillewijn & J.-L. Ramos

Authors
  1. R.-M. Wittich
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  2. P. van Dillewijn
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  3. J.-L. Ramos
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to J.-L. Ramos .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, CSIC, Madrid, Spain

    Fernando Rojo

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Wittich, RM., van Dillewijn, P., Ramos, JL. (2019). Rational Construction of Bacterial Strains with New/Improved Catabolic Capabilities for the Efficient Breakdown of Environmental Pollutants. In: Rojo, F. (eds) Aerobic Utilization of Hydrocarbons, Oils, and Lipids. Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50418-6_35

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