Identifying Specific Inhibitors of Microbial Sulfate Reduction
In oil and natural gas reservoirs, wastewater treatment and municipal waste facilities and other engineered ecosystems, the production of the toxic and corrosive compound, hydrogen sulfide, by sulfate-reducing microorganisms is costly and dangerous from a public health and environmental perspective.
Despite over half a century of research, very few specific inhibitors of sulfate reduction have been identified. We are undertaking high-throughput chemical screens and devising new approaches to efficiently and accurately assess the potency and specificity of small molecules to inhibit microbial sulfate reduction.
New treatments to inhibit sulfate reduction could save human lives, prevent damage to fragile ecosystems and reduce the cost of energy production and infrastructure maintenance. 