Microarray-based identification and quantification of molecular biomarkers for hydrogen-metabolizing microorganism communities to assess bioremediation potential for reductive dechlorination at contaminated sites

氯化有机化合物的还原脱卤化通常受到电子给体，即氢的有效性的限制。指示氢代谢微生物之间的氢通量和氢酶基因表达水平的生物标志物的开发有望评估地下水污染降解潜力。为了确定重要的生物标志物，在拟议的研究中，将首先开发基于微阵列的工具，以评估纯培养物和浓缩培养物以及环境现场样本中氢酶的丰度和表达水平。其次，将对氢代谢微生物进行微观研究，以评估与氢相关的转化过程的动力学与氢酶基因的数量和表达水平的相关性。第三，通过微阵列分析确定为良好表达标记的氢酶基因将被额外量化，定量数据将与微生物活性相关联。衍生的相关性将产生新的工具，以评估受污染地点还原脱卤化的生物降解潜力，从而更有效地管理生物修复战略。

Reductive dehalogenation of chlorinated organic compounds is often limited by electron donor, i.e. hydrogen availability. The development of biomarkers indicating hydrogen flux between hydrogen metabolizing microorganisms and the expression level of hydrogenase genes is promising to assess groundwater contaminant degradative potential. To identify significant biomarkers, in the proposed research first microarray-based tools will be developed to assess abundance and expression levels of hydrogenases in pure and enriched cultures as well as in environmental field samples. Second, microcosm studies with hydrogen-metabolizing microorganisms will be performed to assess kinetics of hydrogen-relevant transformation processes in correlation with quantity and expression levels of hydrogenase genes. Third, hydrogenase genes identified to be good expression markers by microarray analysis will be additionally quantified and quantitative data will be correlated with microbial activity. Derived correlations will result in novel tools to assess biodegradative potential for reductive dehalogenation at contaminated sites leading to a more effective management of bioremediation strategies.