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CNAP - Centre for Novel Agricultural Products

Clean Technology / Phytoremediation

Clean Technology

Microorganisms offer the greatest enzymatic diversity in the biosphere due to their early evolutionary origin, a population size of more than 10³⁰and their ability for rapid evolution. It is considered that less than 1% of bacteria have been characterised; emerging methods are now offering the possibility to examine microorganisms that were thought to be non-culturable in the laboratory and whole new areas of enzymology are now being opened up with microorganisms being isolated from extreme environments. We are engaged in the discovery and engineering of enzymes mediating biochemical pathways as biocatalysts for synthetic chemistry, as recognition components for biosensors and for degrading toxic pollutants.

The industrial use of enzymes as catalysts has significantly increased over the last twenty years, due to reaction selectivity and the demand for ‘greener chemistry’. CNAP works closely with industrial organisations and the Centre of Excellence for Biocatalysis, Biotransformations and Biocatalytic Manufacture (CoEBio3) at The University of Manchester to discover and characterise novel biocatalysts.

Current Clean Technology projects in CNAP fall into 3 main areas:

1. Microbial degradation of explosives
2. Enzyme discovery: developing a new platform technology for oxidative biocatalysis
3. Biosensors

Phytoremediation

Phytoremediation offers an environmentally friendly means of removing pollutants, such as toxic explosive residues, from contaminated sites compared to conventional remediating methods such as the excavation of soil and burial in landfill sites or soil incineration. Plants have a remarkable ability to extract, sequester and detoxify pollutants from the soil, water and air. The potential economic benefits of using plants as a renewable resource for the treatment and containment of pollutants are impressive. However, the innate biodegradative abilities of plants are less impressive than those of adapted bacteria and fungi. While it has become apparent that conventional plants have some potential for the treatment of pollutants, it is also apparent that phytoremediation of organic pollutants is encumbered by the phytotoxicity of many of these compounds. These limitations can be overcome by using genetically engineered plants possessing bacterial genes conferring the ability for the degradation or transformation of organic compounds.

Current Phytoremediation projects in CNAP:

1. Engineering plants for the phytoremediation of military training ranges

Latest NewsUnlocking ancient rice secrets to overcome rainfall extremes

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Researchers from the UK, USA and India led by CNAP begin a major project to develop new strains of rice to to meet challenging weather conditions. 

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