Deo Loknath, Osborne Jabez William, Benjamin Lincy Kirubhadharsini
Department of Bio Sciences, School of Bio Sciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, 632014, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India.
Department of Plant Pathology and Entomology, VIT-School of Agricultural Innovation and Advanced Learning, Vellore Institute of Technology, 632014, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India.
Environ Monit Assess. 2024 Dec 30;197(1):116. doi: 10.1007/s10661-024-13516-y.
Contamination by heavy metals (HMs) poses a significant threat to the ecosystem and its associated micro and macroorganisms, leading to ill effects on humans which necessitate the requirement of effective remediation strategies. Microbial remediation leverages the natural metabolic abilities of microbes to overcome heavy metal pollution effectively. Some of the mechanisms that aids in the removal of heavy metals includes bioaccumulation, biosorption, and biomineralization. Metals such as Cd, Pb, As, Hg, and Cr are passively adsorbed by energy independent process onto the surface by exopolysaccharide sequestration or utilizing energy to transfer metals into the cell and interact with the biomolecules to be sequestered, or being converted into its various valencies, thereby reducing the toxicity. Application of hyperaccumulators has shown to be effective in the removal of HMs especially while augmented with microbes to the rhizosphere region. Omics studies which include metabolomics and metagenomics provide significant information about the microbial diversities and metabolic processes involved in heavy metal remediation, allowing the development of more reliable and sustainable bioremediation approaches. This review also summarizes the recent advancements in microbial remediation, including genetic engineering and nanotechnology that has revolutionized and offered an unprecedented control and precision in the removal of HMs. These innovations hold a promising stand for enhancing remediation efficiency, scalability, and cost-effectiveness.
重金属（HMs）污染对生态系统及其相关的微生物和宏观生物构成了重大威胁，导致对人类产生不良影响，这就需要有效的修复策略。微生物修复利用微生物的自然代谢能力来有效克服重金属污染。一些有助于去除重金属的机制包括生物积累、生物吸附和生物矿化。镉、铅、砷、汞和铬等金属通过能量独立过程被动吸附到表面，通过胞外多糖螯合，或利用能量将金属转运到细胞内并与待螯合的生物分子相互作用，或转化为其各种价态，从而降低毒性。超积累植物的应用已被证明在去除重金属方面是有效的，特别是在与微生物一起添加到根际区域时。包括代谢组学和宏基因组学在内的组学研究提供了有关重金属修复中涉及的微生物多样性和代谢过程的重要信息，有助于开发更可靠和可持续的生物修复方法。本综述还总结了微生物修复的最新进展，包括基因工程和纳米技术，这些技术已经带来了变革，并在去除重金属方面提供了前所未有的控制和精度。这些创新在提高修复效率、可扩展性和成本效益方面具有广阔的前景。
