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Appl. Environ. Microbiol., Jan 1995, 234-238, Vol 61, No. 1
Copyright © 1995, American Society for Microbiology

Use of filamentous cyanobacteria for biodegradation of organic pollutants [published erratum appears in Appl Environ Microbiol 1995 Mar;61(3):1169]

T Kuritz and CP Wolk
Center for Microbial Ecology, Michigan State University, East Lansing.

Biodegradation is increasingly being considered as a less expensive alternative to physical and chemical means of decomposing organic pollutants. Pathways of biodegradation have been characterized for a number of heterotrophic microorganisms, mostly soil isolates, some of which have been used for remediation of water. Because cyanobacteria are photoautotrophic and some can fix atmospheric nitrogen, their use for bioremediation of surface waters would circumvent the need to supply biodegradative heterotrophs with organic nutrients. This paper demonstrates that two filamentous cyanobacteria have a natural ability to degrade a highly chlorinated aliphatic pesticide, lindane (gamma- hexachlorocyclohexane); presents quantitative evidence that this ability can be enhanced by genetic engineering; and provides qualitative evidence that those two strains can be genetically engineered to degrade another chlorinated pollutant, 4-chlorobenzoate.