Enhancing Production of Biosurfactants for Xenobiotic Re- mediation

这一奖项旨在支持以下研究：利用具有天然能力的微生物来去除土壤中的有机污染物，这些微生物能够攻击吸附在土壤颗粒上的有机化合物，并确定表面活性剂的存在是否能促进生物降解。研究者计划建立一个确定的模型系统，由萘饱和土壤和已知能有效降解这种化合物的生物组成。然后，他计划评估合成表面活性剂对其降解这种化合物的能力的影响，并确定是否可以利用已知的产生表面活性剂的细菌来代替合成表面活性剂来更有效地完成相同的最终结果。​本提案是根据NSF项目公告88-99，研究启动奖而提交的。预计研究结果将改进基于生物的修复工程设计，可能与化学和/或物理系统相结合，从土壤中去除可能是地下水污染物的污染物。

This is an award to support research on a concept for removing organic contaminants from soil using microorganisms with natural ability to attack the organic compounds adsorbed on soil particles and to determine whether biological degradation could be enhanced by presence of surfactants. The investigator plans on establishing a defined model system consisting of a naphthalene saturated soil and an organism known to efficiently degrade this compound. He then plans to evaluate the effects of synthetic surfactants on their ability to degrade this compound and to determine whether bacteria known to produce surfactants could be utilized in place of the synthetic surfactants to accomplish the same end result more efficiently and effectively. This proposal was submitted in response to Program Announcement NSF 88-99, Research Initiation Awards. Results are expected to improve the engineering design of biologically-based remediation, potentially coupled to chemical and/or physical systems for removing contaminants from soil that are likely contaminants of groundwater.