Microbial functionalities and immobilization of environmental lead: Biogeochemical and molecular mechanisms and implications for bioremediation
Citation:
George, S. AND Y. Wan. Microbial functionalities and immobilization of environmental lead: Biogeochemical and molecular mechanisms and implications for bioremediation. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 457:131738, (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131738
Impact/Purpose:
This manuscript presents a comprehensive review of recent research advances on the vital roles phosphate solubilizing bacteria, sulphur reducing microorganism, and microbial carbonate synthesizers have in immobilizing environmental lead through biomineralization and biosorption. The microbial mediated immobilization of environmental Pb offers a sustainable strategy for environmental remediation of contaminated media. While large scale applications of microbe-based remediation require defining a wide array of bio-engineering parameters, this review offers the needed technical basis to establish the effectiveness of bioremediation technology for successful in-situ bioremediation of contaminated soil, water, and sediment.
Description:
The increasing environmental and human health concerns about lead in the environment have stimulated scientists to search for microbial processes as innovative bioremediation strategies for a suite of different contaminated media. In this paper, we provide a compressive synthesis of existing research on microbial mediated biogeochemical processes that transform lead into recalcitrant precipitates of phosphate, sulfide, and carbonate, in a genetic, metabolic, and systematics context as they relate to application in both laboratory and field immobilization of environmental lead. Specifically, we focus on microbial functionalities of phosphate solubilization, sulfate reduction, and carbonate synthesis related to their respective mechanisms that immobilize lead through biomineralization and biosorption. The contributions of specific microbes, both single isolates or consortia, to actual or potential applications in environmental remediation are discussed. While many of the approaches are successful under carefully controlled laboratory conditions, field application requires optimization for a host of variables, including microbial competitiveness, soil physical and chemical parameters, metal concentrations, and co-contaminants. This review challenges the reader to consider bioremediation approaches that maximize microbial competitiveness, metabolism, and the associated molecular mechanisms for future engineering applications. Ultimately, we outline important research directions to bridge future scientific research activities with practical applications for bioremediation of lead and other toxic metals in environmental systems.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Microbial functionalities and immobilization of environmental lead: Biogeochemical and molecular mechanisms and implications for bioremediation