Isolation and Engineering of Degradative Organisms

Schematic of a bioreactor for the detoxification of a waste stream or for inclusion in a pump and water treatment process. 

As the degradative organism or consortia is isolated, further studies may actually isolate a particular plasmid or even genes responsible for the degradation. It may be possible to construct organisms with several of these plasmids, or the genes may be inserted into the host s chromosome. If the desire 

Degradative growth curve. At low concentrations, degradation may not occur due to the lack of nutritive content of the xenobiotic as substrate. Eventually, a maximal rate of degradation and also growth may occur with a plateau. Finally, the concentration of the toxic material overwhelms the ability of the organism to detoxify the material and death ensues. 

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