( nto the ground. ...)'Hidden-hero' microbes in soil, water may help naturally clean toxic sites

Kostka's research team from FSU's nationally top 10-ranked oceanography department will lead the "subsurface microbiology" portion of the project.

"Radioactive metal contamination such as that found at the Oak Ridge Field Research Center (ORFRC) where we will be working is a huge global issue," Kostka said. "It affects not only the U.S. but in particular, also Eastern Europe, Canada and South America, and the costs of cleanup are projected in the billions if not trillions of dollars in the U.S. alone.

"As it now stands, bioremediation, which is potentially much cheaper than current technologies, has not been used much at all, but it should be," he said.

"Subsurface aquifers, where most of the radioactive contamination resides, are primary sources of groundwater used for drinking, and contaminated aquifers tend to be extreme environments where microorganisms dominate. These microbes are the 'hidden heroes' that do the work of bioremediation. Our new project will provide the basic science necessary to deploy bioremediation technologies at the scales necessary for them to be effective at U.S. DOE sites."

In addition, the ORFRC has funded Kostka's FSU lab to develop and maintain a genetic database of genes of organisms that are present in the Oak Ridge site's subsurface.

"With the genetic database and associated cutting-edge genomics techniques, my lab will determine and predict the functioning or metabolism of subsurface microbial groups that catalyze key chemical reactions for contaminant removal from groundwater," he said.

"In fact, my FSU group recently isolated a new 'wonderbug,' a metal-reducing bacteria we named Geobacter FRC-32," Kostka added. "The genome of this organism now has been sequenced, and we will use that genome sequence and those of other 'bugs' at Oak Ridge in developing our new bioremediation strategies for DOE sites."
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Source:Florida State University