The overall objective of the proposal program is to seek ways to decrease the risks associated with environmental pollutants by biological treatment of such wastes. The lignin degrading system of white rot fungi will be used. An integrated program is proposed, starting with molecular biology and genetics and proceeding from enzymology through engineering and application research. The genes for the ligninases will be incorporated into expression systems for large-scale production of enzymes. Eukaryotic expression systems will be studied for future incorporation of the ligninase genes back into the original fungus to increase the capacity of the organism. Both recombinant and native enzymes will be characterized in terms of physical properties, turnover rates, substrate specificity, and stability. The mechanisms and pathways for degradation will be characterized to determine if potential harmful intermediates might be produced by the enzymes and the fungus. Conditions will be sought to maximize rates and extents of degradation to minimize the production of potentially harmful products. Finally we will study the engineering of the process and its cost. The program will be a part of and partially support two graduate programs at Utah State University, the Graduate Programs in Toxicology and Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. The research program will involve faculty in the Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Biology, Nutrition and Food Sciences, and Civil and Environmental Engineering at Utah State University and the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at Pennsylvania State University. The research will also involve the Biotechnology Center and the Utah Water Research Laboratory. The significance of this project is that we have discovered a natural process for biological oxidation of environmental pollutants. We propose to adapt the system to the problem and to study how to increase its effectiveness. It should be possible to design very economical systems based on nutrients such as sawdust, corn cobs, peanut shells, wheat straw, etc. depending upon the availability of these substances. Any one of these would provide an economical yet very effective system because the white rot fungi would be very competitive with such nutrients.
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