Microbiology Bioremediation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Microbiology Bioremediation - Essay Example [1] There are a number of cost/efficiency advantages to bioremediation, which can be employed in areas that are inaccessible without excavation. [1] Like hydrocarbon spills or oil spills (specifically, petrol spills) or certain chlorinated solvents may contaminate groundwater, and introducing the appropriate electron acceptor or electron donor amendment, as appropriate, may significantly reduce contaminant concentrations after a lag time allowing for acclimation. [1] An oil spill is the unintentional release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment as a result of human activity. [2] After a spill, hydrocarbons are subjected to physicochemical processes such as evaporation or photochemical oxidation which produce changes in oil composition. But the most important process acting on the spilled oil is biodegradation. [3] There are several ways to clean-up an oil spill in the given scenario and in situ treatment. Microbial Biodegradation through Methanogenesis, using the glycolysis pathway is one way. Bioremediation and Biotransformation methods endeavor to harness the astonishing, naturally occurring, microbial catabolic diversity to degrade, transform or accumulate a huge range of compounds including hydrocarbons such as oil. [1] Bacteria are minute unicellular microorganism, the smallest one having all the necessary protoplasmic equipment for growth and self-multiplication at the expense of available food stuff (Smith,1980) such as hydrocarbon fuel. Every bacterium is covered with a cell membrane known as the plasma membrane which separates it from the cytoplasm of the bacterial cell. Composed of phospholipids and proteins, the plasma membrane is the site of important enzyme systems, including the respiratory enzyme systems or cytochrome enzymes (Smith,1980). In regulating the passage of food materials, like oil, and metabolic by-products between the interior of the cell (where metabolic activities are carried on) and the