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Role of Genetically Modified Microorganisms in Heavy Metal Bioremediation

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Advances in Environmental Biotechnology

Abstract

Heavy metals are natural constituents of the earth’s crust. There is a significant alteration in the geochemical cycles and biological balance of these heavy metals due to various anthropogenic activities. These anthropogenic activities result in the release of bioavailable forms of various heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium, nickel, copper, zinc, etc. into soil and aquatic environments. Prolonged exposures to these heavy elements lead to harmful health implications on different domains of terrestrial and aquatic life. Due to several limitations associated with physical and chemical methods for remediation of contaminated sites, bioremediation has been explored these days as an alternate technology for treatment of heavy metal pollution in soil and water. Various microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi along with plants play a vital role in biotransformation of these heavy metals into nontoxic forms, through processes such as bioremediation and phytoremediation, respectively. Recent progress in genetics has provided the driving force toward the use of engineering improved microbes and enzymes for bioremediation. Keeping these future remediation tolls in mind, present review investigated the abilities of wild microorganisms and plants in terms of tolerance and biotransformation of heavy metals along with their genetically engineered counterparts to explore these immense and valuable biological resources for bioremediation.

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  1. Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Mata Gujri College (Autonomous), Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab, 140406, India

    Saurabh Gupta & Daljeet Singh

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Correspondence to Saurabh Gupta .

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  1. Department of Biotechnology, Maharishi Markandeshwar University, Ambala, Haryana, India

    Raman Kumar

  2. Department of Biotechnology, Maharishi Markandeshwar University, Ambala, Haryana, India

    Anil Kumar Sharma

  3. Department of Biotechnology, General Shivdev Singh Diwan Gurbachan Singh Khalsa College, Patiala, Punjab, India

    Sarabjeet Singh Ahluwalia

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Gupta, S., Singh, D. (2017). Role of Genetically Modified Microorganisms in Heavy Metal Bioremediation. In: Kumar, R., Sharma, A., Ahluwalia, S. (eds) Advances in Environmental Biotechnology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4041-2_12

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