A cell culture incubator-shaker system for environmental biotechnology research

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An advanced incubator-shaker system that provides a range of temperature and atmospheric conditions for growing microbial cultures in a laboratory is being requested.  The incubator-shaker system will be used to grow microorganisms that are important for biodegradation of potentially toxic hydrocarbon compounds often found at contaminated sites as well as microorganisms that are required for efficient biological treatment of municipal wastewater.  Thus this instrument will support research in vital areas of environmental biotechnology.The incubator-shaker system will be used to support collaborative and individual research of two applicants.  A major research program for which the instrument will be used is aimed at developing strategies for rapid clean-up of petroleum-contaminated soils, particularly in cold climates. The incubator-shaker system will allow us to grow various pollutant-degrading bacteria that have strong potential for degrading spilled oil and solvents at contaminated industrial sites.  The microorganisms grown will be evaluated for their pollutant degradation potential and for their surface characteristics.  The information will be used to determine how pollutant-degrading bacteria can be effectively delivered through groundwater to impacted areas of contaminated sites, and to determine the environmental conditions which are required to allow pollutant-degrading microorganisms at contaminated sites to thrive, especially in cold regions.The incubator-shaker will also be used for studies aimed at improving the performance of biological wastewater treatment processes. A number of microorganisms found in municipal wastewater will be studied to characterize the complex microbial population dynamics, genomics, and to perform metabolic modelling to obtain a comprehensive description of the biological processes in various treatment systems.