Soil functional screening

Functional screening of a soil metagenomic library for cellulases revealed a total of eight cellulolytic clones, one of which was purified and characterized [58]. Despite the fact that this library had been generated from a soil sample collected from a... 

Figure 2.3 Metagenomic cloning experiments. Isolation of genomic DNA directly from environments (soil, plants, mixed environments or thermal-vent worms are the examples Illustrated here) can recover DNA fragments which could encode for enzymes. The DNA fragments can be ligated to plasmids or DNA linkers, and then subjected to functional screening (expression cloning) and/or sequence analysis. Amplification by PCR can sometimes be used to yield libraries enriched with clones containing selected sequence motifs relating to families of enzymes...

Several attempts have been reported by recovery teams to recover LNAPL by the use of vacuum wells set above the fluid surface. While these efforts have attained marginal success, several factors have been seen to interfere. Vacuum wells set in the vadose zone tend to encourage airflow from the surface downward through the soil, as well as to extract vapors. The result is often the enhancement of biological degradation near the wells, which tends to cause the well screens to become plugged with biomass. Routine maintenance of the wells is required to keep them functioning properly. 

Figure 8 Compound 24 is a C3-isocyanide functional indole antibiotic that was isolated from an antibacterially active eDNA clone containing soil DNA. The active clone was identified in a top-agar overlay screen using Bacillus subtilis as the test organism. The isonitrile in this metabolite is biosynthesized in a single enzymatic step by IsnA using tryptophan and ribulose-...

Electrokinetic technologies can be successfully applied for localization of radioactive pollution foci, cleaning polluted ground from radioactive nuclides, and restoring protective functions of sorption screens on the way of radioactive nucUde migration. Electromigration is fully assessed for the determination of the migration parameters of different radionuclides in soils. 

The soil algae have been shown to form a significant fraction of the soil microflora, but their activity and importance to soil fertility remains to be fully established. Since it has been demonstrated that many pesticides (particularly herbicides) can seriously interfere with the diversity of the flora and the functional capability of that flora, there is a definite need to implement screening systems to evaluate both existing and propose pesticides to reduce the potential damage to the soil algal flora to a... 

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