Le Borgne Sylvie, Paniagua Dayanira, Vazquez-Duhalt Rafael
UAM-Cuajimalpa, México, D.F., Mexico.
J Mol Microbiol Biotechnol. 2008;15(2-3):74-92. doi: 10.1159/000121323. Epub 2008 Jul 28.
Hypersaline environments are important for both surface extension and ecological significance. As all other ecosystems, they are impacted by pollution. However, little information is available on the biodegradation of organic pollutants by halophilic microorganisms in such environments. In addition, it is estimated that 5% of industrial effluents are saline and hypersaline. Conventional nonextremophilic microorganisms are unable to efficiently perform the removal of organic pollutants at high salt concentrations. Halophilic microorganisms are metabolically different and are adapted to extreme salinity; these microorganisms are good candidates for the bioremediation of hypersaline environments and treatment of saline effluents. This literature survey indicates that both the moderately halophilic bacteria and the extremely halophilic archaea have a broader catabolic versatility and capability than previously thought. A diversity of contaminating compounds is susceptible to be degraded by halotolerant and halophile bacteria. Nevertheless, significant research efforts are still necessary in order to estimate the true potential of these microorganisms to be applied in environmental processes and in the remediation of contaminated hypersaline ecosystems. This effort should be also focused on basic research to understand the overall degradation mechanism, to identify the enzymes involved in the degradation process and the metabolism regulation.
高盐环境对于地表扩展和生态意义都很重要。与所有其他生态系统一样，它们也受到污染的影响。然而，关于此类环境中嗜盐微生物对有机污染物的生物降解情况，我们所知甚少。此外，据估计，5%的工业废水为含盐和高盐废水。传统的非嗜极端微生物无法在高盐浓度下高效去除有机污染物。嗜盐微生物在代谢方面有所不同，并且适应极端盐度；这些微生物是高盐环境生物修复和含盐废水处理的理想选择。这项文献调查表明，中度嗜盐细菌和极端嗜盐古菌都具有比之前认为的更广泛的分解代谢多样性和能力。多种污染化合物易被耐盐和嗜盐细菌降解。然而，为了评估这些微生物在环境过程和受污染高盐生态系统修复中的真正应用潜力，仍需要进行大量的研究工作。这项工作还应侧重于基础研究，以了解整体降解机制，确定参与降解过程的酶以及代谢调控。
