“微生物特种兵”治理工业废水有奇效

Core Viewpoint - The development of a new engineered strain capable of degrading five organic pollutants simultaneously offers a promising solution to the challenges posed by high-salinity wastewater treatment, addressing the limitations of traditional microbial methods [1][2][4]. Group 1: Background and Importance - High-salinity wastewater, primarily from chemical production and oil and gas extraction, contains heavy metals and harmful chemicals, significantly impacting the environment [1]. - Effective removal of organic pollutants from high-salinity wastewater is crucial for sustainable ecological development [1]. Group 2: Development of Engineered Strain - The research team utilized synthetic biology to create a strain, VCOD-2, derived from a chassis bacterium, which exhibits rapid reproduction, salt tolerance, and ease of genetic editing [2]. - VCOD-2 demonstrated a significantly enhanced ability to integrate foreign DNA into its genome, achieving several times higher transformation efficiency compared to natural microbes [2]. Group 3: Advanced Capabilities of VCOD-15 - The engineered strain VCOD-15 can degrade five typical aromatic organic pollutants, including biphenyl, phenol, naphthalene, dibenzofuran, and toluene, covering a wide range of compounds from mono- to polycyclic [3]. - In practical tests, VCOD-15 achieved over 60% removal rates for all five target pollutants within 48 hours, with complete degradation of biphenyl and nearly 90% for complex pollutants like toluene and dibenzofuran, outperforming natural strains by 2 to 3 times [4]. Group 4: Practical Applications and Future Potential - VCOD-15 maintained activity in high-salinity environments, successfully operating in chlor-alkali wastewater with salinity levels up to 102.5 grams per liter [4]. - The research team developed a comprehensive platform for constructing engineered strains, which could address global challenges such as high-salinity wastewater treatment and oil spills [5]. - This platform not only integrates multiple metabolic pathways within a single strain but also supports continuous functional upgrades, indicating potential applications beyond pollutant degradation, including natural product biosynthesis and high-value compound production [6].