Recent Advances in Marine Biotechnology, Vol. 8: Bioremediation

The use of marine organisms to degrade a variety of natural and synthetic substances in the marine environment, thereby reducing the levels of hazardous compounds, is increasingly drawing attention because of the potential such bioremediation has for environmental restoration. Among the current research efforts in bioremediation are some directed towards identifying organisms that possess the ability to degrade specific pollutants. With such organisms, which have already been identified, biochemical studies are going on with the aim of elucidating the pathways of these degradative processes and the enzymes involved. The volume includes chapters that are devoted to petroleum spill bioremediation, use of spectroscopy to identify microbial metabolic pathways, detoxification of mercury by using recombinant mercury-resistant bacteria, and the use of manganese-oxidizing bacteria for bioremediation. A broad-based approach to bioremediation of marine habitats is required because of the wide variety of contaminants in our oceans.