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Biofertilizers are living microbial preparations which enhance or promote plant growth, relatively to a control without inoculation. A huge amount of research literature has been produced in the last 20 years concerning plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) related subjects, describing different micro-organisms acting on different plants, and proposing different mechanisms to explain the plant growth promotion effect. However, we still do not know which of the different in vitro mechanisms of biofertilizer action are responsible for the positive effects in the field. Biofertilizer technology has significantly developed in the market. The nature of multiple mechanisms discovered for PGPR actions and the possibility of genetically modifying a particular strain concerning a particular plant growth-promoting activity suggest that the use of genetically modified organisms such as biofertilizers will be an area of multiple and diverse possibilities of action in the near future. The study of the microbial ecology of this scenario and its dynamics will certainly improve the development of biofertilizer technology for the future of agriculture.

This chapter: i) provides an overview of the technology, products and applications of the use of micro-organisms in cleaning products; ii) discusses the application of existing legislation; iii) identifies and discusses possible environmental and health risks as well as environmental benefits; and iv) provides recommendations to regulators for further research and policy action.

The environmental risk assessment of a genetically modified micro-organism (GMM) needs to consider its potential interactions with indigenous microbial communities in a given habitat. Interactions can relate to the survival of the GMM and/or the transfer of recombinant genes to indigenous community members. While there is already considerable knowledge about the biology and ecology of some species used as hosts for genetic modifications to inform their environmental risk assessments, in-depth studies on the biology, genetics and eco-physiology of other GM species may still be required before considering their use in not-strictly contained systems, for example for biofuel production or as biocontrol agents. Containment can be achieved when using GMM symbionts which are non-viable outside of their hosts, as demonstrated with Wolbachia sp. and insects. Given the potential of non-symbiotic micro-organisms to spread in the environment, it appears desirable that a GM should not persist after its intended purpose of application has been achieved, even if it’s presence does not necessarily translate to a risk, as it may have no adverse properties. In summary, in addition to a detailed characterisation of the genetic and biological properties of a GMM, in-depth knowledge about its interactions with its target and non-target environments is not only crucial to improve its efficiency, but also important to assess their environmental risks.

Since the mid-1970s, genetic engineering and the possibility of accidental or deliberate environmental release of modified micro-organisms has been the centre of debates concerning the consequences of altering the ordinary course of nature. For a sound discussion on risks, it is of essence to separate substantive scientific and technical issues from non-informed perceptions of the general public. This chapter advocates this question to be framed on the already extensive history and wealth of data on the design, performance and risk studies made since the early 1980s on genetically modified organisms and more specifically, on available records on genetically engineered micro-organisms (GEMs) designed for non-contained applications as in situ bioremediation agents. Existing information provides a suitable background for tackling the uncertainties raised by newly engineered agents, including those that may stem from synthetic biology.

This chapter looks back at the results of the OECD conference on the “Environmental Uses of Micro-Organisms: An Overview of the State-of-the-Art and Implications for Biotechnology Risk/Safety Assessment”, as well as forward, to what this could mean for the future.

DNA sequencing is a powerful method to unravel the genetic diversity of micro-organisms in nature. In recent years, revolutionary next-generation sequencing technologies have become widely used in various microbiological disciplines, including microbial taxonomy and ecology. This chapter reviews the species concept of prokaryotes, including bacteria and Archaea, and presents the development of a comprehensive methodology for monitoring microbes in soil. Next-generation sequencing-enabled metagenomics should be useful and can be widely applied to modern microbiology and biotechnology.

Insecticides that kill the mosquito and drugs that kill the parasite are the only weapons presently available to fight the unbearably high human malaria toll. As mosquito and parasite resistance to these agents limits their effectiveness and there is currently no effective malaria vaccine available, clearly new means to fight the disease must be developed. This chapter explores the feasibility of an alternative strategy: rather than kill the vector mosquito, modify it to render it incapable of sustaining parasite development. This chapter investigates genetically modifying the symbiotic bacteria that naturally occur in the mosquito’s midgut, by producing bacteria that carry the same anti-parasite genes. Major remaining challenges are to devise means to introduce the modified bacteria into mosquitoes in the field and to resolve regulatory and ethical issues related to the release of genetically modified organisms in nature.

This chapter outlines the concept of integrated bioremediation and co-product development using microalgae. It ties potential products with taxonomically governed biochemical profiles, which are essential criteria for product-driven strain selection. It closes by briefly describing the current challenges to commercial cultivation and biomass harvesting.

This publication constitutes the proceedings of the OECD conference on the “Environmental Uses of Micro-Organisms: An Overview of the State-of-the-Art and Implications for Biotechnology Risk/Safety Assessment”. This event, organised under the auspices of OECD’s Working Group on the Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology (WG-HROB), was held on 26-27 March 2012. A total of 100 participants attended the conference, which was open to OECD delegates as well as external scientists, regulators and interested individuals. It was developed in collaboration with the OECD Co-operative Research Programme under the Trade and Agriculture Directorate.

The use of microalgae for biotechnological purposes has increased rapidly in the past few years. In the United States, oversight of the development of the use of microalgae is included in the purviews of many laws and the regulations that implement those laws. Part of the responsibilities encompassed by these laws is a need to evaluate the risks as well as the benefits from the biotechnology industry. In the United States, efforts to co-ordinate the evaluation of research and the commercialisation of biotechnology, which includes the use of microalgae, have been ongoing since 1986. The recent development of a biofuels and bioproducts component of the biotechnology industry has resulted in new examinations of the roles government agencies play in the oversight of this industry sector. Risk and sustainability assessments for production of microalgae have recently been highlighted by private and government sponsored panels. This chapter discusses the progress of co-ordination and evaluation of such oversight in the United States.

Micro-organisms including bacteria and viruses are probably best known as pathogens causing disease in plants, man and other animals. At the same time, many microbial species also play a fundamental role in the functioning of the environment, being instrumental, for instance, in mineralization processes, nitrogen fixation and an array of other geochemical processes. Life on earth would not be possible without micro-organisms and the services that they provide.

Bioremediation involves the application of micro-organisms for the removal of contaminants from the environment. Bioremediation competes effectively with other remediation approaches, such as thermal desorption and incineration. Further innovation of this technology involves the development of geneticically engineered strains with enhanced biodegradability capabilities. At present, however, there have been very few reported examples where genetically engineered micro-organisms have been released into commercial bioremediations. The main reasons for this include the lack of knowledge of the environmental risks and benefits of releasing genetically modified organisms into a contaminated area. In addition, non-specialist stakeholder support is often overlooked and remains a crucial area for improvement if sustainable remediation is to continue to develop. This chapter focuses on the application and risks associated with bioremediation.

This chapter briefly describes some examples of past and present (next to potential novel) applications of genetically modified micro-organisms to soil, stressing the importance of analysing the putative impacts of such applications to the life support functions (LSF) of a living soil at three levels: i) functioning for soil fertility; ii) functioning for pathogen suppressiveness; iii) functioning for the provision of clean drinking water. To understand the impact of such genetically modified micro-organism applications on the soil, it is important to deepen our understanding of the microbial communities that are responsible for the key LSF of that soil. Moreover, we need to understand how these might be affected mechanistically. It is, therefore, important to further develop databases that contain extensive data on the microbial communities in the soil systems under study. This chapter advocates the application of the currently available powerful methods, which enable the dissection of soil microbial systems into their individual components. Finally, the chapter proposes the definition of a normal operating range (NOR) to fit the dataset obtained into a framework which is quantifiable and may serve to support decision making.

This chapter provides a survey of the currently known uses of micro-organisms in different types of cleaning products based on searches conducted of publicly available information sources such as the scientific literature, patent databases and commercial websites. Examples of microbial species known to be used in different types of cleaning applications will also be given as well as potential human health and environmental issues associated with their use. A brief summary of Canadian regulatory experiences with these products, in particular those of the New Substances Program of Health Canada and Environment Canada, will be provided as well.

This chapter provides a brief overview of the targets of algal genetic modification followed by a short description of the Netherlands legislation concerning genetically modified organisms, an overview of what is already known about the risks related to production systems of (GM-) algae, and the potential risks of GM-algae for human health and the environment.

Mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria or dengue fever cause a huge health burden to people living in tropical and subtropical countries. Current control efforts are not always effective and many of these diseases have increased in prevalence, geographic distribution and severity. The transinfection of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with the endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia pipientis is a promising biocontrol approach for those diseases. Naturally occurring Wolbachia strains have been stably introduced from fruit flies into mosquitoes and shown that these strains can invade and sustain themselves in mosquito populations while blocking the replication of dengue viruses and other pathogens inside the insects. This chapter discusses the release of Wolbachia-infected A. aegypti mosquitoes in North Queensland, Australia. The regulatory process for this kind of release had no precedent in Australia and was authorised after a thorough community engagement process and an independent risk assessment. At the time of writing (April 2012), a second release trial was currently underway in Queensland and the technology will soon be deployed in dengue-endemic areas of Southeast Asia and in Brazil, once appropriate approvals are in place.

By the year 2050, there will be at least 9 billion people on Earth to feed using the same amount or less land and water than is available today. Currently, about one-third of all potential agricultural commodities grown worldwide are lost to diseases, weeds, insects and other pests. Farmers will be challenged to produce more, but to do so using sustainable cropping practices and less fertilizer and pesticides. Biological control is an integral part of sustainable agriculture. This chapter provides an overview of the topics of the construction, activity and use of transgenic biocontrol agents (BCAs) and their future potential in 21st century agriculture.

A lot of work has been done on a large number of bacterial species that we know are present in the environment. This work has yielded important results for fundamental science as well as for biotechnological applications. But the environment has much more to offer in terms of bacterial variety, genomic variety and useful genes that remain to be discovered. One way to exploit these possibilities is the study of the soil metagenome, DNA sequences directly isolated from soil samples. The genes that are isolated by the various techniques can be used in genetic engineering to improve bacterial strains that are available and that can be handled. This raises questions about risks, for instance the risk of horizontal transfer of these transgenes between organisms, i.e. between higher organisms and bacteria, as well as between different bacteria. One way to minimise the chances of such horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is to reduce the homology between transgenic DNA in donor organisms and the DNA in recipient organisms. With all the enthusiasm about the environment as a source of biodiversity, it should be recognised that the environment is very promising, but also extremely difficult to investigate, and difficult to control.