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Updated: Oct 28, 2025

Isolation, Propagation, and Identification of Bacterial Species with Hydrocarbon Metabolizing Properties from Aquatic Habitats
Published on: December 7, 2021
Biodegradation of aromatic pollutants meets synthetic biology
Liang Xiang1, Guoqiang Li1, Luan Wen1
1CAS Key Laboratory of Quantitative Engineering Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Synthetic Genomics and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Synthetic Genomics, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, PR China.
Abstract:
Ubiquitously distributed microorganisms are natural decomposers of environmental pollutants. However, because of continuous generation of novel recalcitrant pollutants due to human activities, it is difficult, if not impossible, for microbes to acquire novel degradation mechanisms through natural evolution. Synthetic biology provides tools to engineer, transform or even re-synthesize an organism purposefully, accelerating transition from unable to able, inefficient to efficient degradation of given pollutants, and therefore, providing new solutions for environmental bioremediation. In this review, we described the pipeline to build chassis cells for the treatment of aromatic pollutants, and presented a proposal to design microbes with emphasis on the strategies applied to modify the target organism at different level. Finally, we discussed challenges and opportunities for future research in this field.
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