Microbial bioremediation of dyes, metals, and microplastics for ecological sustainability

The adverse consequences of hazardous environmental contaminants, at minimal concentration also constitute a major threat to both human health and the ecosystem. Multiple techniques are investigated to remove contaminants. Among these techniques, microbial bioremediation has emerged as an appealing method because of its removal efficacy, affordability, and environmental friendliness. This review is an overview of the major environmental pollutants such as plastics, heavy metals, and dyes with their source and toxicity towards both humans and the environment. The summary of the beneficial microbes like bacteria, fungi, and algae that employ remediation techniques like biosorption, bioaccumulation, bioleaching, biodeterioration, bio-fragmentation, and biotransformation to convert the toxic compounds to non-toxic compounds has been discussed. During the degradation process factors like temperature, pH, initial concentration, O2 concentration, N2 addition, soluble salts, pollutants both chemical and physical structure, and hydrophobic properties play a major role. The enzyme present in the microbes helps in the quick and complete breakdown of the pollutants, emerging advancement techniques like genetic engineering are implied to generate desired compounds or enzymes to attain pollutant removal. As with other removal techniques, like immobilization, the recent advancements are also explained. The review majorly states the efficiency of microbial remediation toward environmental sustainability.