ROCKVILLE, Md., Jan. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have deciphered the genetic code of a bacteria used to clean up industrial toxins from contaminated groundwater.
The bacteria, which was discovered at a sewage treatment plant in New York, appears to have developed its unique ability to consume toxic chemicals fairly recently, scientists from the Institute for Genomic Research, a non-profit company based in Rockville, Md., reported in the Jan. 7 issue of Science.
Known scientifically as Dehalococcoides ethenogenes, the bacterium is already being put to use by environmental consulting companies to clean up 17 contaminated groundwater sites in 10 states. The microbe is the only one known to be able to breakdown the groundwater pollutants tetrachloroethelene and trichloroethylene
Knowing the DNA sequence of D. ethenogenes will foster a better understanding of how the bacteria functions and perhaps enable scientists to design or enhance the decontamination ability of other microbes, the TIGR researchers said.
TIGR has deciphered the DNA code of several bacteria species that have the potential to be used in decontamination efforts, including one that mops up uranium and one that can help remove metal contaminants.
