Engineered microbe could clean up persistent oil pollution hotspots

Industrial wastewater from oil refineries and sites polluted by oil spills usually contain complex mixtures of organic pollutants that persist in the environment, harming organisms and ecosystems. Now, an engineered microbe could help break down such pollution.

Naturally occurring bacterial strains have been shown to degrade some individual hydrocarbon pollutants but they cannot treat complex mixtures of organic pollutants because their catabolic enzymes are specific to a single component or a few structurally related compounds. What’s more, they are often sensitive to high salinity, limiting their effectiveness in remediating marine areas. Meanwhile, previous engineered strains have focused on a single pollutant.