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Gilbert S. Omenn Dean, Public Health and Community Medicine University of Washington Seattle, Washington 98195 On behalf of the University of Washington, the City of Seattle, the sponsors and donors, and my co-organizers, I am delighted to welcome all of you to this Conference on Genetic Control of Environ mental Pollutants. My only regret is that Dr. Alexander Hollaender, who has inspired so many of us as young scientists and stimulated so many trail-blazing conferences in environmental sciences and in gen etic engineering, is ill and was unable to make the trip to Seattle. He sends his warm good wishes for an outstanding meeting and a fine volume. The purpose of this Conference is to identify and assess strat egies for more effectively and safely managing wastes and toxic sub stances in the environment, in part through use of genetically engi neered microorganisms. There is a sense of desperation in our soci ety that modern technologies have introduced a bewildering array of potential hazards to human health and to our environment. There is an accompanying sense of frustration that our prodigious basic re search capabilities and our technological ingenuity have not yielded practical ways to control many pollutants and waste streams, or- better still--to convert them to useful products.

Genetic Control of Environmental Pollutants

Welcome and Introduction.- Environmental Toxicants.- Microbial Biodegradation of 2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic Acid and Chlorophenols.- Bacterial Transformations of and Resistances to Heavy Metals.- The Identification and Cloning of Genes Encoding Haloaromatic Catabolic Enzymes and the Construction of Hybrid Pathways for Substrate Mineralization.- General Discussion: Environmental Toxicants.- Engineering Organisms to Survive.- Engineering Organisms to Survive: Introduction.- Biodegradation in the Estuarine-Marine Environments and the Genetically Altered Microbe.- Plasmid-Mediated Biodegradative Fate of Monohalogenated Biphenyls in Facultatively Anaerobic Sediments.- Land Disposal and Spill Site Environments.- Ecological Constraints on Genetic Engineering.- Panel Discussion: Vulnerability of Ecosystems.- Environmental Waste Streams.- Perspective on Opportunities for Genetic Engineering Applications in Industrial Pollution Control.- Application of Genetic Engineering to Industrial Waste/Wastewater Treatment.- Needs and Strategies for Genetic Control: Municipal Wastes.- Pseudomonas Hydrocarbon Oxidation.- Microbial Enzymes and Lignocellulose Utilization.- Panel Discussion: Comparison of Traditional and Genetic Strategies.- Diverse Capabilities of Microorganisms.- Diverse Capabilities of Microorganisms: Introduction.- Capabilities of Microorganisms (and Microbiologists).- Tools of Genetic Manipulation.- Manipulation of Methanotrophs.- Panel Discussion: Emerging Industrial Applications.- Roundtable Discussion: Directions for the Future.- Posters.- Wastewater Treatment with Bacteria Attached to Fibers.- Dissimilation of Aromatic Compounds by Rhodotorula graminis.- Membrane-Associated Benzoate-4-Hydroxylase from Rhodotorula graminis.- Biodecontamination of a Full-Scale Formaldehyde Spill.- Evolution of New Degradative Functions for Halogenated Aromatics.- Biological Degradation of Polychlorinated Biphenyls by Mutant Organisms.- Gene Engineering of Yeast for the Degradation of Hazardous Wastes.- Molecular Induction by Phenobarbital of Cytochrome P-450 and Epoxide Hydrolase.- Chemistry and Genotoxicity of Runoffs from Model Coal Piles.- Aerobic Microbial Degradation of Glucoisosaccharinic Acid.- Phenol Degradation in Microbial Fixed-Film Bioreactors.- Construction of a "Gene Library" of Pseudomonas sp. B13 and Expression of the 3-Chlorobenzoate Degradative Genes.- Isolation and Characterization of TN-5 Induced Insertion Mutants in the 3-Chlorobenzoate Degradation Pathway of Pseudomonas sp. B13.- Potential Use of Microcosms to Assess Survival, Efficacy, and Environmental Safety of Genetically Engineered Microorganisms.- Closing Remarks.- Participants and Speakers.