ABSTRACT
Experimental procedures for investigating the microbial degradation and transformation of xenobiotics are outlined, together with a critical analysis of the limitations inherent in conventional tests for determining ready biodegradability. An attempt will be made to provide a critical outline of experimental aspects of investigations directed to biodegradation and biotransformation with particular emphasis on outstanding issues to which sufficient attention has not always been paid and which have not, therefore, received ultimate resolution. Possibly the greatest impetus for such investigations will come from their application to various aspects of biotechnology. Isolation and elective enrichment is only seldom that it has been possible to obtain bacteria with a desired metabolic capability directly from natural habitats. The procedure consists of elective enrichment of the microorganisms in an environmental sample by growth at the expense of a single compound serving as the sole source of carbon and energy.
