Microbes factors enhancing

Several factors that influence enhanced microbial degradation include nutrient value of the metabolite molecule, toxicity of the metabolite to soil microorganisms, and the availability of the metabolite to soil microbes. Comparisons of several pesticides, and their respective degradation products provide insight into the question of why soil microbial populations can develop rapid degradation capabilities for some pesticides but not others. 

The availability of pesticides in soil is a critical factor in the induction or inhibition of enhanced biodegradation. The pesticides, whether toxic to the microbes or serving as a suitable substrate, should be available to the microorganisms to exert their toxicity or provide nutrient value. Thus, availability, low microbial toxicity, and high nutritive value seem to be the properties that could favor enhanced degradation of a pesticide. 

Karube [389] has pioneered in the development of many bacterial electrodes based on this principle using various bacteria depending on the target analyte. Ion-selective electrodes for NH3, O2, CO2, H2S and have all been used in conjunction with immobilized whole cells. Riedel et al. [390] have recently demonstrated that preincubation of certain bacterial electrodes with the desired analyte (substrate) can enhance the sensitivity of a sensor toward that chemical by a factor of as much as 25. This induction approach may prove to be widely applicable. The shelf-life of a wholecell electrochemical sensor can extend up to several weeks with fully optimized storage conditions (low temperature, for example). Microbe thermistors (sensors that respond to the heat evolved during bacterial metabolism of a substrate) have also been developed, but these present problems once again with respect to analyte specificity,... 

In addition to host and environmental factors, an understanding of the various properties of antibiotic classes and recognition of the more common mechanisms of resistance will provide added insight into the complex interplay between the host and microbe. Integration of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties into microbiological data may improve antibiotic choice and, thereby, enhance the patient s prospects for recovery. 

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