Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Toward sustainable plastic bioremediation using bacterial consortia from aquatic environments.

This study explored the biotechnological potential of native bacteria from diverse aquatic environments to biodegrade synthetic plastics and microplastics. Bacterial consortia isolated from contaminated sites showed promising plastic-degrading capabilities, pointing toward bioremediation strategies for plastic pollution.

2025 Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology
Article Tier 2

Harnessing Engineered Microbial Consortia for Xenobiotic Bioremediation: Integrating Multi-Omics and AI for Next-Generation Wastewater Treatment

This review explores how engineered teams of microbes can break down hard-to-remove pollutants in wastewater, including microplastics, pharmaceuticals, and synthetic dyes. By combining advanced genomic analysis with artificial intelligence, scientists can optimize these microbial communities for more effective and sustainable wastewater treatment.

2025 Journal of Xenobiotics 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Construction of microbial consortia for microbial degradation of complex compounds

This review explores how engineered microbial consortia can degrade complex environmental pollutants more effectively than isolated bacteria, discussing strategies for constructing stable multi-species communities for bioremediation applications.

2022 Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 180 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial engineering for sustainable microplastic biodegradation: from enzyme redesign to synthetic consortia

This review examined advances in microbial and enzymatic engineering for biodegrading microplastics, covering genome-editing strategies, enzyme redesign, and synthetic microbial consortia. The authors found that engineered microorganisms can break down common plastic polymers into recyclable monomers more efficiently than wild-type strains, but scaling these systems to environmental remediation remains a major challenge.

2025 International Microbiology
Article Tier 2

Emerging biotechnological and eco-remediation strategies for the biodegradation and removal of micro/nanoplastics from the environment: A comprehensive review

Researchers reviewed emerging biotechnological and eco-remediation strategies for removing micro- and nanoplastics from the environment, synthesizing advances in synthetic microbial consortia, enzyme-mediated depolymerization, phytoremediation, and green nanomaterials while highlighting key analytical and field-implementation challenges.

2026 Journal of Applied and Natural Science
Article Tier 2

Using Fungi in Artificial Microbial Consortia to Solve Bioremediation Problems

Researchers reviewed the use of artificial microbial consortia containing fungi for cleaning up environmental contaminants including microplastics, heavy metals, dyes, and pesticides. They found that combining fungi with bacteria in engineered communities can enhance the breakdown of pollutants more effectively than single organisms working alone. The study suggests that fungal-based bioremediation consortia offer a promising eco-friendly strategy for tackling diverse types of environmental pollution.

2024 Microorganisms 36 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

Engineered Synthetic Microbial Consortia for In Vivo Plastic-Derived Metabolite Detoxification and Host Health Restoration in Ruminant Animals

Researchers proposed engineered synthetic microbial consortia for in vivo detoxification of plastic-derived metabolites in the rumen of cattle and goats, designing microbial communities capable of degrading plasticizers and other contaminants ingested through MP-contaminated feed.

2025
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

Synthetically engineered microbial scavengers for enhanced bioremediation

Synthetic biology approaches were reviewed for engineering microorganisms with enhanced bioremediation capabilities against pollutants including plastics, heavy metals, and organic contaminants, with the authors discussing strategies for improving enzyme efficiency, substrate range, and environmental fitness while addressing biosafety concerns about releasing engineered microbes into natural environments.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 64 citations
Article Tier 2

Advancing bioremediation: biosurfactants as catalysts for sustainable remediation

This review examines how biosurfactants, natural cleaning agents produced by microorganisms, can help break down stubborn pollutants including microplastics. Unlike synthetic chemicals, biosurfactants are biodegradable and less toxic, making them a greener option for environmental cleanup. The research suggests these biological tools could play an important role in reducing microplastic contamination in soil and water, potentially lowering human exposure over time.

2025 Biodegradation 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbiome Engineering for Detoxification of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), Pesticides, Dyes, Dioxins, Arsenic (As), Mercury(Hg), Lead (Pb), Cadmium(Cd), Chromium(Cr)(VI), Pharmaceuticals and Microplastics: Challenges and Future Directions

This review examined advances in microbiome engineering for degrading polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other environmental pollutants, covering synthetic biology approaches, microbial consortia design, and host-microbiome modifications. Engineered microbial systems show promise for large-scale bioremediation of contaminated soils and waters.

2025 Journal of Drug Delivery and Therapeutics
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Pollution and its Remediation

This publication reviews the growing problem of microplastic pollution in the environment and explores biological and technological strategies for remediation, including microbial degradation and engineered solutions. It highlights the urgent need for practical cleanup approaches as microplastics continue to accumulate across ecosystems worldwide.

2024 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Bacterial consortia based enhanced biofilm mediated synthetic plastic waste treatment

Researchers investigated bacterial consortia-enhanced biofilm formation as a biodegradation strategy for synthetic plastic waste, examining how multi-species consortia can improve polymer degradation performance compared to single organisms, positioning biodegradation as a sustainable approach to reducing plastic accumulation in air, water, and soil.

2025 The Journal of Solid Waste Technology and Management
Article Tier 2

Microplastic pollution: Understanding microbial degradation and strategies for pollutant reduction

This review explores how microplastics form, spread through ecosystems, and affect microbial communities, then examines how certain microorganisms can actually break down these plastic particles. Understanding microbial degradation of microplastics could lead to biotechnology solutions that reduce the amount of plastic pollution entering the food chain and ultimately the human body.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 150 citations
Article Tier 2

Discovering untapped microbial communities through metagenomics for microplastic remediation: recent advances, challenges, and way forward

This review explores how metagenomic approaches are uncovering microbial communities capable of degrading microplastics in various environments. Researchers found that diverse bacteria and fungi in soil, water, and waste systems produce enzymes that can break down plastic polymers, though degradation rates remain slow. The study highlights metagenomics as a powerful tool for discovering new biological solutions to microplastic pollution.

2023 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 54 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial biodegradation of plastics: Challenges, opportunities, and a critical perspective

Researchers reviewed microbial biodegradation of synthetic plastics, summarizing the bacterial and fungal species, enzymes, and biochemical pathways capable of breaking down common polymers and arguing that combining microbial approaches with physicochemical methods offers the most promising eco-friendly route to plastic waste remediation.

2022 Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering 88 citations
Article Tier 2

Challenges and opportunities in bioremediation of micro-nano plastics: A review.

This review examines biological approaches to removing micro- and nanoplastics from the environment, focusing on microbial degradation and bioremediation strategies. While bioremediation holds promise, challenges remain in identifying microbes capable of degrading common plastic types and scaling these processes for practical environmental cleanup.

2022 The Science of the total environment
Article Tier 2

Synthetic biology encompasses metagenomics, ecosystems, and biodiversity sustainability within its scope

Not relevant to microplastics — this is a synthetic biology perspective paper exploring how combining synthetic biology with metagenomics ('synthetic metagenomics') could enable engineering of complex microbial communities and ecosystems for environmental sustainability and other applications.

2023 Frontiers in Synthetic Biology 6 citations
Article Tier 2

A concept for the biotechnological minimizing of emerging plastics, micro- and nano-plastics pollutants from the environment: A review.

This review examined biotechnological strategies for remediating plastics, micro-, and nano-plastics from the environment, cataloguing microbial and enzymatic degradation approaches, discussing their mechanistic basis, and proposing an integrated biotechnology framework for minimizing plastic pollution across terrestrial and aquatic systems.

2023 Environmental research
Article Tier 2

Engineering a Solution: Recent Technological Advances in the Microbial Bioremediation of Microplastics

This review examines recent advances in microbial bioremediation of microplastics, highlighting the limitations of conventional treatments and presenting biological alternatives using bacteria, fungi, and algae capable of degrading plastic polymers. The authors discuss key enzymatic mechanisms and the potential for scaling microbial approaches as sustainable remediation tools for plastic pollution.

2025 SPIRE - Sciences Po Institutional REpository
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Microbiome Interactions: Emerging Threats and Bioremediation Potentials

This review examines the plastisphere — microbial communities that colonize plastic surfaces — covering how these biofilms influence the fate and toxicity of microplastics while acting as vectors for pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes, and discussing their potential for bioremediation.

2025 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Microbiome Interactions: Emerging Threats and Bioremediation Potentials

This review examines the plastisphere — microbial communities that colonize plastic surfaces — covering how these biofilms influence the fate and toxicity of microplastics while acting as vectors for pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes, and discussing their potential for bioremediation.

2025 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Assessing Recent Technologies for Addressing Microplastic Pollution and Pushing the Case of Bioremediation as an Attractive Approach

This review assesses current technologies for addressing microplastic pollution, with a focus on bioremediation as a sustainable alternative. Researchers compared physical, chemical, and biological approaches and found that microbial degradation offers distinct advantages in terms of environmental compatibility and cost-effectiveness. The study advocates for increased investment in bioremediation research as a practical strategy for managing microplastic contamination at scale.

2024 Recent Advances in Food Nutrition & Agriculture 2 citations