Microbiological detoxification of hazardous organic pollutants is highly promising, but its reliable implementation requires a sophisticated understanding of several different substrate types and how they interact. This paper carefully defines the substrate types and explains how their interactions affect the bacteria's electron and energy flows, information flow, and degradative activity. For example, primary substrates, which are essential for growth and maintenance of the bacteria, also interact with degradation of specific hazardous pollutants by being inducers, inhibitors, and direct or indirect cosubstrates. The target contaminants, which often are secondary substrates, also have the interactive roles of self-inhibitor, inhibitor of primary-substrate utilization, inducer, and a part of an aggregate primary substrate.
