Pollutants in the Environment

Description

This book has captured the exploratory stages of initiation and development of Consortium Culture (CC), an environmental mixed bacterial culture for the removal of heavy metals. It’s always a fascinating experience to work with bacterial population. The flexibility, dynamism and wealth of possibilities on offer are too valuable to be unnoticed. As if the microbial population learns to adapt to fulfill the need of the moment. The community level of interaction between the isolates for survival is truly amazing. To understand the total science of it is still a challenge more than a mystery. Decades have passed since the term ‘superbug’ came into the picture, as vast skepticism of the ecosystem imbalance it may cause and the non-guaranteed performance of the endeavor overshadowed the introduction of any genetically modified recombinant microbes into the environment. The best next thing is to help nature help us; to exploit whatever nature has in store and make the best out of it. Freely and readily available environmental bacterial isolates in a way can be exploited or trained even be encouraged, stimulated, and augmented to get the environmental clean-up job done by what we describe as bioremediation.

This book describes and discusses the preliminary approach followed in order to ascertain the ability of the bacterial cells to fulfill our objectives. It is hoped that the materials included will serve as a resource as well as reference text for both students and early researchers alike pursuing interest in the field of environmental biotechnology. The long term goal remains albeit the amount of work that needs to be accomplished to envision the birth of an integrated bacterium-based waste treatment and remedial system in the local scene.