Molecular Markers in Biodegradation Processes
Aleksandra Ziembińska-Buczyńska
from: Microbial Biodegradation: From Omics to Function and Application (Edited by: Jerzy Długoński). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2016) Pages: 27-42.
Abstract
Biological decomposition of various substrates is performed by a large number of microorganisms. Microbial performance in biodegradation processes has been observed and analysed for years only for microbiological cultivation methods. For the last 30 years, molecular biology tools that are useful for describing the microbial world have been discovered, improved and introduced for routine microbial studies. These molecular methods are performed on a wide variety of molecular markers-housekeeping genes that are always present in the microbial genome as well as functional genes that are responsible for the production of a particular enzyme. Biodegradation processes are performed in the environment by microbial communities; thus, it is important to study the microbiological part of these biodegradation processes utilizing a combination of molecular tools and markers. This chapter provides brief characteristics of the housekeeping genes used in microbial identification together with a description of the functional genes that are commonly used as molecular markers in the biodegradation of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, chlorinated compounds, plastics and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons read more ...
