Environmental Biotechnology '96

The scope of environmental biotechnology is very broad, ranging from genetic engineering to bioengineering process control. Its application in pollution abatement and waste treatment has been extensive and the largest biotechnological processes are biological waste treatment processes for organic carbon and nutrient removal. As the biological processes, both at the physiological and molecular level, are better understood, the opportunities for development of sophisticated treatment processes and environmental monitoring and analysis are increasingly recognised. The last two decades have seen increasing application of biotechnological processes for the treatment of pollutants hitherto considered recalcitrant or toxic. Environmental Biotechnology '96 focused on the exploitation of biodegradation mechanisms for the treatment of difficult to degrade pollutants and for the analysis of such treatment systems. These proceedings constitute a significant step in the continued development of environmental biotechnology and its exploitation for sustainable environmental management.

Table of Contents:
Retention and expression of recombinant plasmids in suspended and biofilm-bound bacteria degrading trichloroethene (TCE) (J.D. Bryers, R.R. Sharp). Genes of enzymes involved in the biodegradation of carbazole, dibenzofuran, fluorene, and dibenzo- p -dioxin by bacteria (K. Kasuga et al. ). Mineralisation of 1,2-dibromoethane and other brominated aliphatics under aerobic conditions (L.M. Freitas dos Santos, A.G. Livingston). The role of a metabolic intermediate in the biodegradation of inhibitory substrates (P. Mungkarndee et al. ). Biocatalytic oxidation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in media containing organic solvents (E. Torres et al. ). Degradation of benzo[ a ]pyrene, dibenz[ a,h ]anthracene and coronene by Burkholderia cepacia (A.L. Juhasz et al. ). Biodegradation of aniline (S.H. Gheewala, A.P. Annachhatre). N 2 O producing capability of Nitrosomonas europaea, Nitrobacter winogradskyi and Alcaligenes faecalis (Y. Inamori et al. ). Nitrogen removal from wastewater with high ammonia nitrogen concentration via shorter nitrification and denitrification (J. Surmacz-Gorska et al. ). Treatment of a milkpowder/butter wastewater using the AAO activated sludge configuration (M.J. Donkin, J.M. Russell). Application of enzymatic activity measurements to biological phosphate removal from wastewater (B. Czerska et al. ). The impact of microbiological tools on mathematical modelling of biological wastewater treatment (P.C. Pollard et al. ). Experimental evidence for the need of thermodynamic considerations in modelling of anaerobic environmental bioprocesses (C.-Y. Hoh, R. Cord-Ruwisch). A technique in confocal laser microscopy for establishing biofilm coverage and thickness (G. Silyn-Roberts, G. Lewis). Biotreatment of an industrial waste oil condensate (R. Bentham et al. ).