Patent ID: 6096531
Filing Date: 2000-08-01
Classification: B09C,C12N,C12P

Abstract:
A method for assembling a consortium of specific degraders of a xenobiotic compound of interest, comprising:a) providing a first population of microorganisms isolated from a first source containing the xenobiotic compound of interest, or structural homologs thereof;b) incubating the first population of microorganisms under conditions appropriate for growth with media containing the xenobiotic compound of interest as a carbon source;c) screening for the ability of the population to initiate degradation of the xenobiotic compound of interest;d) identifying an accumulating intermediate in the degradation pathway of the xenobiotic compound of interest;e) providing a second population of microorganisms isolated from a source containing the accumulating intermediate in the xenobiotic degradation pathway identified in step d), or structural homologs thereof;f) incubating the second population of microorganisms under conditions appropriate for growth with media containing the accumulating intermediate as a carbon source;g) screening for the ability of the second population of microorganisms to degrade the accumulating intermediate;h) optionally repeating steps d)-g) to identify additional accumulating intermediates and populations of microorganisms which specifically degrade such additional accumulating intermediates; andi) combining the populations of microorganisms identified in the preceding steps as participants in the pathway of degradation of the xenobiotic compound of interest under conditions appropriate for the integration of the populations into a single consortium of specific degraders of the xenobiotic compound of interest.