Although the principles underlying bioremediation are relatively well
understood today, the strains responsible for degradation of aggregates
associated with aging have not been identified. Once capable strains
are identified and isolated, their biodegradative enzymes can be
studied for potential use in medical therapies. Fortunately,
identification and isolation are becoming more tractable today through
the development of molecular techniques that directly target the cells'
DNA and RNA. Many new methods are being developed each year, and two
approaches are especially noteworthy in this context: molecular
fingerprinting and the DNA microarray. Molecular fingerprinting relies
on the fact that the sequences of genes that code for like protein
products are usually similar. In that case, a primer can be generated
for a class of genes. We can separate the different amplified products
by electrophoresis to create a DNA fingerprint, and we can track the
emergence of important community members or important genes even when
we do not know the identity of the microorganism. DNA-microarray
technology is an emerging tool. Arrays of hundreds to thousands of
oligonucleotides from well-characterized or partially characterized
strains allow us to track the presence of many interesting
microorganisms, genes, and gene expression with one assay.
Key words:
Bioremediation, Microarray, Fingerprinting, Intracellular, Aggregates
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