"Friendly" viruses could boost pollution cleanup: study

　　CANBERRA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Scientists in Australia say a "friendly" virus could boost the ability of bacteria to remove pollutants from soil, water, mine waste and other environments, offering a potential new tool for environmental remediation.

　　Researchers led by Australia's Flinders University suggest phage virus "bioaugmentation" offers a compelling new direction for environmental biotechnology, by harnessing the ecological roles of lysogenic phages to enhance microbial breakdown of contaminants, according to a university statement released on Tuesday.

　　Researchers propose using lysogenic bacteriophages -- viruses that integrate into bacterial genomes without killing their hosts -- to bolster the bacteria's genetic capabilities for bioremediation.

　　The approach, known as phage bioaugmentation, could improve the efficiency of traditional bioremediation, which is often slow and limited by environmental constraints on microbial efficacy, according to the study published in Communications Biology.

　　The team found that these phages can introduce auxiliary metabolic genes into bacteria, strengthening their capacity to degrade pollutants such as heavy metals, pesticides and petroleum hydrocarbons.

　　Pollution of soils and waterways remains a global concern, threatening human health, agricultural productivity, ecological balance, and drinking water supplies, researchers said.

　　They caution that regulatory frameworks will need to address biosafety concerns, including gene transfer potential, persistence and impacts on non-target organisms, before field-scale deployment.

　　"If used well, phage bioaugmentation could be used in controlled conditions to help restore polluted environments and promote microbial resilience," said Flinders University researcher Niki Romeo, the study's lead author. ■