Advances and perspectives of using stable isotope probing (SIP)-based technologies in contaminant biodegradation

Jinha Kim; Myung Hwangbo; Chih-Hsuan Shih; Kung-Hui Chu

doi:10.1016/j.wroa.2023.100187

Advances and perspectives of using stable isotope probing (SIP)-based technologies in contaminant biodegradation

Water Res X. 2023 Jun 7:20:100187. doi: 10.1016/j.wroa.2023.100187. eCollection 2023 Sep 1.

Authors

Jinha Kim¹, Myung Hwangbo^{1

2}, Chih-Hsuan Shih¹, Kung-Hui Chu¹

Affiliations

¹ Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3136, USA.
² School of Earth, Environmental and Marine Sciences, The University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, USA.

Abstract

Stable isotope probing (SIP) is a powerful tool to study microbial community structure and function in both nature and engineered environments. Coupling with advanced genomics and other techniques, SIP studies have generated substantial information to allow researchers to draw a clearer picture of what is occurring in complex microbial ecosystems. This review provides an overview of the advances of SIP-based technologies over time, summarizes the status of SIP applications to contaminant biodegradation, provides critical perspectives on ecological interactions within the community, and important factors (controllable and non-controllable) to be considered in SIP experimental designs and data interpretation. Current trend and perspectives of adapting SIP techniques for environmental applications are also discussed.

Keywords: Biodegradation; Co-metabolism; RDX; Stable isotope probing (SIP).