Microbial Induced Corrosion ServicesMicrobial induced corrosion (MIC) impacts nearly all industries and can exact a severe toll in terms of loss of production, O&M costs, deterioration of equipment and potentially the health, safety, and environmental consequences of corrosion related failure. Currently, assessment of MIC potential is primarily based upon culture-dependent methods like plate counts, MPNs, or Biological Activity Response Tests. However, the overwhelming majority of microorganisms (>99%) cannot be grown in artificial media in a laboratory. Thus, conventional techniques used to guide O&M measures may vastly underestimate the potential for MIC activity. Microbial Insights offers a variety of molecular biological tools (MBTs) for more comprehensive characterization of microbial communities and more accurate quantification of MIC associated microorganisms. PLFA - A broad-based biochemical approach to assess viable biomass concentrations and profile microbial community composition. CENSUS - Based on quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), CENSUS is a nucleic acid-based approach to quantify specific microorganisms, groups of microorganisms, or functional genes iimplicated in MIC or other biological processes. CENSUS targets include sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB), acetogens, methanogens, nitrate reducing bacteria, and others. DGGE- A DNA-based technique which generates a profile or "fingerprint" which can be used to identify dominant members of the microbial community. TRFLP - A DNA-based technique that provides a comprehensive characterization of the microbial community. tRFLP typically identify more members of the microbial community than possible by DGGE. Initial characterization of microbial community to choose targets for CENSUS monitoring Microarray - A DNA based technique that provides an extensive characterization of the microbial community by simultaneously detecting over 59,000 microbial taxa. Statistical comparison of microbial community composition between samples cna be used to investigate potential interactions between microbial groups |
