Prediction of biodegradation potential from (meta)genomes: advancing the enviPathPlus ORD platform

Chemical pollution has exceeded planetary boundaries, requiring urgent solutions for chemical waste removal. Microbial biodegradation processes are crucial for breaking down chemical contaminants, yet the functions of microbial communities are often challenging to predict. To address this challenge, we aim to contribute a new pipeline, EDGEbp (Enabling Detection of metaGEnomic biodegradation potential), to advance the research capabilities of the ORD biodegradation prediction software, enviPathPlus. Specifically, in EDGEbp, we will build a Hidden Markov Model-based pipeline to identify biodegradation genes and pathways from total microbial community DNA (metagenomic) sequencing data. EDGEbp will output confidence scores to infer the ‘contaminant biodegradation potential’ of a given microbial community based on sequencing information. In other words, our aim is to build a tool to convert unintelligible DNA sequences into easily-understood biodegradation confidence scores. This will help us infer the capabilities of a specific microbiome to transform chemical contaminants. This project will therefore advance the sustainable development goals of improving water quality by reducing chemical pollution through microbial biodegradation. Overall, we anticipate that EDGEbp will expand the cutting-edge functionalities of the ORD tool enviPathPlus to support its long-term preservation and promote community engagement in line with ORD principles.