Microbial Remediation: A Promising Tool for Reclamation of Contaminated Sites with Special Emphasis on Heavy Metal and Pesticide Pollution: A Review

Abstract

Heavy metal and pesticide pollution have become an inevitable part of the modern industrialized environment that find their way into all ecosystems. Because of their persistent nature, recalcitrance, high toxicity and biological enrichment, metal and pesticide pollution has threatened the stability of the environment as well as the health of living beings. Due to the environmental persistence of heavy metals and pesticides, they get accumulated in the environs and consequently lead to food chain contamination. Therefore, remediation of heavy metals and pesticide contaminations needs to be addressed as a high priority. Various physico-chemical approaches have been employed for this purpose, but they have significant drawbacks such as high expenses, high labor, alteration in soil properties, disruption of native soil microflora and generation of toxic by-products. Researchers worldwide are focusing on bioremediation strategies to overcome this multifaceted problem, i.e., the removal, immobilization and detoxification of pesticides and heavy metals, in the most efficient and cost-effective ways. For a period of millions of evolutionary years, microorganisms have become resistant to intoxicants and have developed the capability to remediate heavy metal ions and pesticides, and as a result, they have helped in the restoration of the natural state of degraded environs with long term environmental benefits. Keeping in view the environmental and health concerns imposed by heavy metals and pesticides in our society, we aimed to present a generalized picture of the bioremediation capacity of microorganisms. We explore the use of bacteria, fungi, algae and genetically engineered microbes for the remediation of both metals and pesticides. This review summarizes the major detoxification pathways and bioremediation technologies; in addition to that, a brief account is given of molecular approaches such as systemic biology, gene editing and omics that have enhanced the bioremediation process and widened its microbiological techniques toward the remediation of heavy metals and pesticides.

RETRACTED: Immobilization of metribuzin-degrading bacteria on biochar: Enhanced soil remediation and bacterial community restoration

“…The global concern about the existence of MB residues in soil and water has prompted researchers for exploration of approaches for alleviation of this pesticide from cultivated soils. Bioremediation is a promising strategy that exploits the capability of microorganisms to remediate pollutants from contaminated matrices in an effective, non-hazardous, cheap, easily adaptable, and environment friendly (Verma et al, 2014;Tarfeen et al, 2022).…”

Effects of continuous cropping Jiashi muskmelon on rhizosphere microbial community

“…Gemmatimonas is involved in phosphonate and phosphinate metabolism ( Xun et al, 2021 ). Arthrobacter strains have strong environmental adaptability and stress resistance and can degrade various kinds of environmental organic pollutants and adsorb heavy metal ions ( Tarfeen et al, 2022 ). In addition, Arthrobacter can degrade nicotine and resist insect attack ( Brown, 1974 ).…”

A Review on Succession of Bioremediation Including Microbial Interventions for Reducing Heavy Metal Ions Contamination of Natural Environment

“…But meanwhile, there are disadvantages such as long-time consumption, specificity in most cases, and small remediation scope. Therefore, when selecting remediation technology, environmental, time, and economic factors should be considered comprehensively to choose the most suitable remediation plan [3,[54][55][56][57][58].…”