Molecular ecology of the microbial degradation of aromatic compounds

Microbes can be recognised by direct analysis of nucleic acids without the unrepresentative and unreliable steps of classical cultivation by using the techniques of molecular biology. This paradigm shift in how we conduct environmental microbiological research is relatively recent, most of the research and methods having originated during the past decade. The approach has great potential to complement chemical and physical methods for evaluating the potential for bioremediation, and subsequent monitoring of progress.