SBIR Phase II: Indetification of Anaerobic Bacteria and their Metalbolic Capabilities for Bioremediation

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9500041 Bochner Anaerobic bacteria possess metabolic activities for biodegrading a range of polluting chemicals including aromatic, halogenated aromatic, and halogenated alkene compounds. Anaerobes make up a significant portion of terrestrial bacteria and should be considered as potential agents of bioremediation. However, knowledge of these organisms, their diversity, taxonomy, and metabolic capabilities, is still at a rudimentary level. The purpose of this project is to design an efficient, easy-to-use, instrumented test kit system that can be used both to study the catabolic capabilities of anaerobes and to identify different species of anaerobes based on these capabilities. To develop this kit, the catabolic potential of over 300 species of anaerobes will be surveyed and cataloged against at least 300 different organic compounds, including some important xenobiotic chemicals. From computer analysis of these data, a set of 95 carbon source utilization tests will be selected to be incorporated into a commercial microplate test kit. The survey will provide an overview of the range of catabolic activities of the anaerobes in question. If successful, the test kit system will be marketed commercially to microbiologists doing environmental, industrial, and medical testing and identification of anaerobes.