Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

A Comprehensive Review of Biofilm Composition and Factors Affecting Efficacy in Microbial Bioremediation

This review examines biofilm-mediated bioremediation, analyzing biofilm formation, structural diversity, and biochemical degradation pathways used to break down organic pollutants, heavy metals, microplastics, and pharmaceutical contaminants, while also discussing environmental factors and challenges such as antimicrobial resistance that affect biofilm efficacy in real-world remediation applications.

2025 International Journal of Plant and Environment
Article Tier 2

[Applications of biofilm in environmental pollution control and the related challenges].

This review examines biofilm structure, formation mechanisms, and community composition as applied to environmental pollution control, covering removal of heavy metals and organic pollutants, and discussing emerging challenges including plastisphere dynamics, antibiotic resistance gene spread, and pathogen accumulation in biofilm-pollutant interactions.

2024 PubMed 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial Biofilms – Pollutant Load Suppressor

This review examines how microbial biofilms can be harnessed to degrade environmental pollutants including heavy metals, pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and microplastics. Biofilm-based bioreactors and microbial fuel cells represent promising biotechnology approaches for sustainable wastewater treatment.

2023 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Biofilm on microplastics in aqueous environment: Physicochemical properties and environmental implications

This review examines how bacteria and other microorganisms form sticky films called biofilms on microplastic surfaces in water. These biofilms change how microplastics move through the environment and increase their ability to absorb pollutants like heavy metals, pesticides, and antibiotics. Biofilm-coated microplastics may also carry harmful bacteria, making them a greater potential health risk than clean microplastic particles.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 353 citations
Article Tier 2

Colonization characteristics and surface effects of microplastic biofilms: Implications for environmental behavior of typical pollutants

This review examines how bacteria colonize microplastic surfaces in water, forming biofilms that change how the plastics behave in the environment. These biofilms alter the surface properties of microplastics and affect how they absorb and transport heavy metals and other pollutants. Understanding biofilm formation on microplastics is important because it can make the particles more dangerous by concentrating toxic substances that could eventually enter the food chain.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 65 citations
Article Tier 2

Role of biofilms in the degradation of microplastics in aquatic environments

This review examined the role of microbial biofilms in degrading microplastics in aquatic environments, highlighting the potential for biofilm-mediated biodegradation as a natural mechanism for breaking down recalcitrant plastic pollutants.

2021 Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology 140 citations
Article Tier 2

The role of marine bacteria in modulating the environmental impact of heavy metals, microplastics, and pesticides: a comprehensive review

This comprehensive review covers how marine bacteria mitigate environmental impacts of heavy metals, microplastics, and pesticides through processes including biosorption, biotransformation, biofilm colonization of microplastics, and enzymatic pesticide degradation.

2024 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Nano-Technological Bioremediation: Revolutionizing Environmental Cleanup

This review explores how combining nanotechnology with bioremediation improves the ability to clean up environmental pollutants including microplastics, heavy metals, and organic chemicals. Nano-enabled bioremediation systems can enhance the efficiency of microbial degradation and contaminant capture in polluted soils and water.

2023 International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Unlocking secrets of microbial ecotoxicology: recent achievements and future challenges

This review explores how microorganisms interact with environmental pollutants, including microplastics, covering how bacteria can break down pollutants but are also harmed by them. The authors highlight that microplastics create new surfaces in the environment where bacteria form communities, potentially spreading harmful species or antibiotic resistance. Understanding these microbial interactions is critical for developing nature-based solutions to reduce pollution and protect human health.

2023 FEMS Microbiology Ecology 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial degradation of contaminants of emerging concern: metabolic, genetic and omics insights for enhanced bioremediation

This review covers how microorganisms have evolved the ability to break down emerging pollutants including plasticizers, pharmaceuticals, and pesticides, turning them into less harmful substances. Understanding the genes, enzymes, and metabolic pathways these microbes use could lead to cost-effective, eco-friendly cleanup methods for removing persistent contaminants -- including plastic-derived chemicals -- from the environment before they reach people.

2024 Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigating Biofilms: Advanced Methods for Comprehending Microbial Behavior and Antibiotic Resistance

This review summarizes recent advances in biofilm research, focusing on how communities of microorganisms form protective layers on surfaces and become resistant to antibiotics. The sticky matrix that holds biofilms together plays a key role in spreading antibiotic resistance genes between bacteria. While not directly about microplastics, the findings are relevant because microplastics in the environment serve as surfaces where these resistant biofilms can form and spread.

2024 Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark 36 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Bioremediation of microplastics in freshwater environments: A systematic review of biofilm culture, degradation mechanisms, and analytical methods

This review summarizes existing research on using natural biofilms — communities of microorganisms — to break down microplastics in freshwater. Certain bacteria can degrade plastic particles, offering a potential eco-friendly cleanup method. While the approach is still slow and not yet widely practical, it points toward biological solutions for reducing microplastic pollution in our water supply.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 114 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial and multi-omics approaches for bioremediation of emerging contaminants: environmental impact and future engineering solutions

This research review summarizes how scientists are using helpful microbes (bacteria, fungi, and algae) to clean up dangerous pollutants in our water and soil, including pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and microplastics that can harm human health. The study shows that these tiny organisms can naturally break down and remove many toxic chemicals from the environment. This matters because it could lead to cheaper, eco-friendly ways to clean up contaminated areas and protect our drinking water and food supply.

2026 Biodegradation
Article Tier 2

Recent Trends in Bioinspired Metal Nanoparticles for Targeting Drug-Resistant Biofilms

This review examines how biologically synthesized metal nanoparticles derived from plants, microorganisms, and marine organisms can combat drug-resistant bacterial biofilms. The authors highlight that these green-synthesized nanoparticles offer advantages over chemically produced ones, including lower cost, reduced environmental impact, and effective antibiofilm properties. The work is relevant to microplastic research because biofilms that form on plastic surfaces in the environment can harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

2025 Pharmaceuticals 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic-associated biofilms in wastewater treatment plants: Mechanisms and impacts

This review examines how microplastics in wastewater treatment plants develop biofilms that fundamentally change the particles' behavior and environmental impact. Researchers found that biofilm formation on microplastics creates a paradox: it improves their removal by helping them settle faster, but the biofilms also serve as reservoirs for antibiotic-resistant bacteria and pathogens. The findings highlight the need for treatment plant operators to consider biological transformations of microplastics, not just their physical removal.

2025 Journal of Water Process Engineering 10 citations
Article Tier 2

The Importance of Biofilms to the Fate and Effects of Microplastics

This review examines how biofilms — communities of microorganisms that form on microplastic surfaces — affect the fate and ecological effects of plastic pollution. Biofilm formation alters how microplastics are transported, ingested, and degraded in the environment, and the plastisphere can harbor pathogens and antibiotic-resistant bacteria that may pose risks to human health.

2020 IntechOpen eBooks 7 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Bioremediation of microplastic pollution: A systematic review on mechanism, analytical methods, innovations, and omics approaches

Researchers systematically reviewed how bacteria, fungi, and algae can break down microplastics through enzymes and biofilms, and how cutting-edge tools like genomics and genetically engineered microbes are improving biodegradation efficiency. While microbial bioremediation is a promising sustainable approach to microplastic pollution, challenges around scalability and varying degradation rates in real environments still need to be overcome.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Role of Biofilms in the Degradation of Microplastics

This review examines the role of microbial biofilms in degrading microplastics, presenting insights into how microbial communities colonizing plastic surfaces may contribute to the breakdown of microplastic particles in aquatic and terrestrial environments.

2025
Article Tier 2

Microplastic-Associated Biofilms and Their Role in the Fate of Microplastics in Aquatic Environment

This review examines how microbial biofilms attached to microplastics in aquatic environments mediate the accumulation and transfer of chemical pollutants, exploring how the 'plastisphere' community influences the fate and ecotoxicological impact of microplastics and co-contaminants.

2025
Review Tier 2

Advances in Chemotactic and Non-chemotactic Bioremediation of Water: A Comprehensive Review

This review surveys both conventional and microbial-based approaches for cleaning up water contaminated by industrial and agricultural pollutants. Bioremediation is highlighted as the most eco-friendly option, using bacteria and other microorganisms to break down a wide range of waste types including plastics, heavy metals, and organic chemicals. The review identifies remaining challenges and promising directions for scaling up bioremediation in real-world applications.

2022 Applied Environmental Research 4 citations
Article Tier 2

A review on microbial-biofilm mediated mechanisms in marine microplastics degradation

This review examines how microbial biofilms form on microplastics in marine environments and their potential role in degrading these persistent pollutants. Researchers found that plastic-associated biofilm communities are diverse and influenced by factors such as polymer type, particle size, and seasonal conditions. The study identifies knowledge gaps in understanding how bacterial and fungal communities on microplastics may contribute to their breakdown in ocean environments.

2025 Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 1 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Microplastics on the frontline: causes, strategies to combat pollution and protect health with advanced bioremediation—a review

This systematic review examines how microplastics carry toxic chemicals like heavy metals and persistent pollutants into the food chain, ultimately reaching humans. It also explores promising bioremediation approaches — using bacteria and enzymes to break down microplastics — as a potential strategy to reduce exposure.

2026 Journal of Environmental Science and Health Part A
Article Tier 2

Biofilm–microplastic interactions in food safety: mechanisms, risks, and control strategies

This review investigates how microplastics in the food industry serve as surfaces where bacterial biofilms can form, creating complexes that resist cleaning and disinfection. Researchers found that these biofilm-microplastic combinations can shield harmful bacteria and promote the spread of antibiotic-resistance genes. The study evaluates strategies for preventing and controlling this form of contamination in food systems.

2025 Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 3 citations
Review Tier 2

Research progress on the role of biofilm in heavy metals adsorption-desorption characteristics of microplastics: A review

This review examines how biofilm formation on microplastics in aquatic environments modifies their properties and changes how they adsorb and release heavy metals. Researchers found that biofilm-covered microplastics behave significantly differently than bare microplastics, which has important implications for understanding the combined environmental risks of microplastics and heavy metal contamination.

2023 Environmental Pollution 53 citations