A Review and Bibliometric Analysis on Applications of Microbial Degradation of Hydrocarbon Contaminants in Arctic Marine Environment at Metagenomic and Enzymatic Levels

Abstract

The globe is presently reliant on natural resources, fossil fuels, and crude oil to support the world’s energy requirements. Human exploration for oil resources is always associated with irreversible effects. Primary sources of hydrocarbon pollution are instigated through oil exploration, extraction, and transportation in the Arctic region. To address the state of pollution, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms and processes of the bioremediation of hydrocarbons. The application of various microbial communities originated from the Arctic can provide a better interpretation on the mechanisms of specific microbes in the biodegradation process. The composition of oil and consequences of hydrocarbon pollutants to the various marine environments are also discussed in this paper. An overview of emerging trends on literature or research publications published in the last decade was compiled via bibliometric analysis in relation to the topic of interest, which is the microbial community present in the Arctic and Antarctic marine environments. This review also presents the hydrocarbon-degrading microbial community present in the Arctic, biodegradation metabolic pathways (enzymatic level), and capacity of microbial degradation from the perspective of metagenomics. The limitations are stated and recommendations are proposed for future research prospects on biodegradation of oil contaminants by microbial community at the low temperature regions of the Arctic.

Microbial Communities of Seawater and Coastal Soil of Russian Arctic Region and Their Potential for Bioremediation from Hydrocarbon Pollutants

“…These levels of hydrocarbon degradation are in agreement with the literature data [ 85 ]. It is known that the combination of strains of various species increases the degree of oil biodegradation [ 3 ]. The investigation of hydrocarbon degradation by these strains in consortium is an essential part of the development of bioremediation biotechnologies for oil-contaminated soils.…”

“…Climate features impede the use of physical, thermal, and chemical purification methods [ 2 ]. In this regard, there has been a significant increase in interest in environmentally safe and economical biological methods for the remediation of Arctic soils and water basins from oil pollution [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Biostimulation and bioaugmentation biotechnologies are widely used for the bioremediation of polluted habitats [ 2 , 6 ].…”

“…Soil microbial communities face a shortage of nitrogen and phosphorus, slightly acidic conditions, and low rainfall in summer [ 4 , 9 , 10 ]. The microbiota of Arctic marine areas lives in a high salinity of sea water, in slightly alkaline conditions and under a varying content of dissolved oxygen [ 3 ]. In this regard, the development of biological preparations requires the search for microorganisms capable of using different components of oil and petroleum products at a low temperature and a high salinity of the medium.…”

Carbazole Degradation and Genetic Analyses of Sphingobium sp. Strain BS19 Isolated from Antarctic Soil

“…However, the application of bioremediation in Antarctica requires the use of bacteria natively present in Antarctica as dictated by the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS). Hence, it is necessary to isolate native bacterial strains and develop bioremediation applications specifically for Antarctica [13].…”

Swelling Behaviour of Polystyrene Microsphere Enhanced PEG-Based Hydrogels in Seawater and Evolution Mechanism of Their Three-Dimensional Network Microstructure

“…These shortcomings limited the application of hydrogels, in some fields with less demanding mechanical properties, such as drug delivery carriers [ 26 ], water-absorbing materials [ 19 , 27 ], etc. The practical production of hydrogels has been greatly limited, especially in the marine environment with abundant material resources [ 28 , 29 ]. At the same time, as a soft hydrophilic material, hydrogels had similarities and correlations in the formation of organic molecular layers and biological mucous membranes, which could well block the antifouling phenomenon from the root.…”