The Role of Microorganisms in Remediation
of Environmental Contaminants
15
Gaganpreet Kaur, Damanjeet Kaur, and Saurabh Gupta
Abstract
Environmental pollution by heavy metals, hydrocarbons, pesticides, dyes and
other xenobiotic compounds is increasing day by day. Reclamation of these
contaminants is of utmost importance for sustainable development. Various
anthropogenic activities like industrial waste, mining, use of pesticides, deforestation and automobile emissions added a significant amount of these
contaminants into the environment. Conventional remediation techniques such
as physicochemical methods, electrochemical treatments and cationic and anionic
exchange are relatively expensive and quite unsuccessful with minute concentration of pollutants. Besides these limitations, conventional methods also lead to the
production of secondary pollutants. However, bioremediation employs the use of
microbes as well as plants for the restoration of the environmental sites and water
bodies. Exploitation of microbes such as bacteria, fungi and algae as remediation
tools is emerging as an eco-friendly approach for the treatment of different
pollutants and contaminants from air, soil and water. Comparing to conventional
technologies, the microbe-based bioremediation is more economical and efficient
in protecting the environment and minimizing the health hazards caused by
pollutants. Nowadays, microbes have been also targeted using gene-editing
tools such as genetic engineering, microarray technology and various omics
approaches such as genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics and proteomics
for the regulation and optimization of the remediation process. Development in
technology provides a new era of an integrated approach exploring the plant–
microbe interaction and genetically engineered microbes for the restoration of
G. Kaur
Department of Biotechnology & Medical Sciences, Baba Farid Group of Institutions, Baba Farid
College, Bathinda, Punjab, India
D. Kaur · S. Gupta (*)
Department of Microbiology, Mata Gujri College, Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab, India
# Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
R. Prasad (ed.), Environmental Pollution and Remediation, Environmental and
Microbial Biotechnology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5499-5_15
421
of Environmental Contaminants
15
Gaganpreet Kaur, Damanjeet Kaur, and Saurabh Gupta
Abstract
Environmental pollution by heavy metals, hydrocarbons, pesticides, dyes and
other xenobiotic compounds is increasing day by day. Reclamation of these
contaminants is of utmost importance for sustainable development. Various
anthropogenic activities like industrial waste, mining, use of pesticides, deforestation and automobile emissions added a significant amount of these
contaminants into the environment. Conventional remediation techniques such
as physicochemical methods, electrochemical treatments and cationic and anionic
exchange are relatively expensive and quite unsuccessful with minute concentration of pollutants. Besides these limitations, conventional methods also lead to the
production of secondary pollutants. However, bioremediation employs the use of
microbes as well as plants for the restoration of the environmental sites and water
bodies. Exploitation of microbes such as bacteria, fungi and algae as remediation
tools is emerging as an eco-friendly approach for the treatment of different
pollutants and contaminants from air, soil and water. Comparing to conventional
technologies, the microbe-based bioremediation is more economical and efficient
in protecting the environment and minimizing the health hazards caused by
pollutants. Nowadays, microbes have been also targeted using gene-editing
tools such as genetic engineering, microarray technology and various omics
approaches such as genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics and proteomics
for the regulation and optimization of the remediation process. Development in
technology provides a new era of an integrated approach exploring the plant–
microbe interaction and genetically engineered microbes for the restoration of
G. Kaur
Department of Biotechnology & Medical Sciences, Baba Farid Group of Institutions, Baba Farid
College, Bathinda, Punjab, India
D. Kaur · S. Gupta (*)
Department of Microbiology, Mata Gujri College, Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab, India
# Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
R. Prasad (ed.), Environmental Pollution and Remediation, Environmental and
Microbial Biotechnology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5499-5_15
421