in the Bioreactor Isolate Pseudomonas putida CA-3: a Biotechnologically Significant Metabolic Route Final Report for the STRIVE project:2007-FS-ET-9-M5
Summary: STRIVE Report 65 - Mark M. O'Mahony, Niall D. O’Leary and Alan D.W. Dobson
Extensive use of styrene by the petrochemical and polymer processing industries generates over a hundred thousand tonnes of stored styrene waste annually, in addition to gaseous and effluent emissions to the environment. Styrene itself is a toxic alkenylbenzene, while its oxygenated derivative,
styrene oxide, is carcinogenic, thus the anthropogenic release of styrene poses a threat to both the environment and to human health. As a result, there has been significant interest internationally in environmentally sensitive approaches to remediate styrene waste, which has largely focused on microbial degradation.
This project involved targeted genetic manipulation of the bacterial isolate Pseudomonas putida CA-3, in an attempt to enhance its ability to degrade the toxic pollutant styrene to carbon dioxide and water.
