Bacteria Genomes - ANAEROMYXOBACTER DEHALOGENANS

Bioremediation can be defined as any process that uses microorganisms or their enzymes to return the environment altered by contaminants to its original condition. Bioremediation may be employed in order to attack specific contaminants, such as chlorinated pesticides that are degraded by bacteria, or a more general approach may be taken, such as oil spills that are broken down using multiple techniques including the addition of fertiliser to facilitate the decomposition of crude oil by bacteria. Chlorinated compounds are abundant pollutants at DOE (US Dept of Energy) and DOD (US Dept of Defence) sites, and tools for enhanced bioremediation are needed and are under current development.

Anaeromyxobacter dehalogenans utilizes halogenated compounds, such as 2-chlorophenol, 2,6-dichlorophenol, 2,5-dichlorophenol, and 2-bromophenol, as growth-supporting electron acceptors (halorespiration). Anaeromyxobacter dehalogenans exhibits metabolic versatility, and grows under a variety of redox conditions. Oxidized metal species such as U(VI) and Fe(III) (including ferric oxyhydroxide), anthraquinone disulfonate (AQDS), halogenated phenols, oxygen, nitrate, nitrite, and fumarate are used in terminal electron accepting processes (TEAPs). Also Anaeromyxobacter dehalogenans demonstrates great electron donor versatility, and couples electron acceptor reduction to the oxidation of a variety of compounds including formate, hydrogen, acetate, succinate, pyruvate, and glucose.

A. dehalogenans tolerates high concentrations of reduced products such as phenol or ammonium and has been found to be the predominant metal reducing populations at uranium-contaminated DOE NABIR sites that are characterized by changing redox conditions and low pH. A feature that distinguishes A. dehalogenans from other reductively dechlorinating and metal-reducing populations is this organism's ability to both use acetate and hydrogen as a source of reducing equivalents

Anaeromyxobacter dehalogenans is a delta-Proteobacterium, and sequencing its genome will provide relevant information regarding reductive dehalogenase genes and the organization of reductive dehalogenase operons. Such information is critical for the design of nucleic acid-based tools to detect, monitor and quantify functional genes involved in reductive dechlorination processes at contaminated sites.

References:

http://aem.asm.org/cgi/content/full/69/5/2712?view=long&pmid=12732541
http://genome.jgi-psf.org/finished_microbes/anade/anade.home.html
http://www.bionewsonline.com/w/what_is_bioremediation.htm