School of Biological Sciences & Institute for Global Food Security, Queen's University Belfast, 19 Chlorine Gardens, Belfast, UK.
Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Microbiome. 2021 Jul 6;9(1):156. doi: 10.1186/s40168-021-01112-y.
Manufacturing and resource industries are the key drivers for economic growth with a huge environmental cost (e.g. discharge of industrial effluents and post-mining substrates). Pollutants from waste streams, either organic or inorganic (e.g. heavy metals), are prone to interact with their physical environment that not only affects the ecosystem health but also the livelihood of local communities. Unlike organic pollutants, heavy metals or trace metals (e.g. chromium, mercury) are non-biodegradable, bioaccumulate through food-web interactions and are likely to have a long-term impact on ecosystem health. Microorganisms provide varied ecosystem services including climate regulation, purification of groundwater, rehabilitation of contaminated sites by detoxifying pollutants. Recent studies have highlighted the potential of methanotrophs, a group of bacteria that can use methane as a sole carbon and energy source, to transform toxic metal (loids) such as chromium, mercury and selenium. In this review, we synthesise recent advances in the role of essential metals (e.g. copper) for methanotroph activity, uptake mechanisms alongside their potential to transform toxic heavy metal (loids). Case studies are presented on chromium, selenium and mercury pollution from the tanneries, coal burning and artisanal gold mining, respectively, which are particular problems in the developing economy that we propose may be suitable for remediation by methanotrophs. Video Abstract.
制造业和资源产业是经济增长的关键驱动力，但也带来了巨大的环境代价（例如，工业废水和采矿后的基质排放）。废物流中的污染物，无论是有机的还是无机的（例如重金属），都容易与它们的物理环境相互作用，这不仅会影响生态系统健康，还会影响当地社区的生计。与有机污染物不同，重金属或痕量金属（例如铬、汞）不可生物降解，通过食物网相互作用积累，并可能对生态系统健康产生长期影响。微生物提供了多种生态系统服务，包括气候调节、地下水净化、通过解毒污染物来修复污染场地。最近的研究强调了甲烷营养菌（一组可以将甲烷作为唯一碳源和能源的细菌）的潜力，它们可以将有毒金属（类金属）如铬、汞和硒转化。在这篇综述中，我们综合了最近关于甲烷营养菌活性所必需的金属（例如铜）的作用、吸收机制以及它们转化有毒重金属（类金属）的潜力的研究进展。我们分别介绍了制革厂、燃煤和手工采金造成的铬、硒和汞污染的案例研究，这些污染在发展中经济体中是一个特别的问题，我们认为甲烷营养菌可能适合对此进行修复。视频摘要。
