۱- Introduction

۲- Microorganisms- the key players in bioremediation

۳- Factors affecting heavy metal bioremediation

۴- Role of enzymes in bioremediation

۵- Phytoremediation

۶- Immobilization techniques in bioremediation

۷- Nanoparticles in bioremediation

۸- Conclusion

References

Abstract

Pollution by heavy metals has been identified as a global threat since the inception of industrial revolution. Heavy metal contamination induces serious health and environmental hazards due to its toxic nature. Remediation of heavy metals by conventional methods is uneconomical and generates a large quantity of secondary wastes. On the other hand, biological agents such as plants, microorganisms etc. offer easy and eco-friendly ways for metal removal; hence, considered as efficient and alternative tools for metal removal. Bioremediation involves adsorption, reduction or removal of contaminants from the environment through biological resources (both microorganisms and plants). The heavy metal remediation properties of microorganisms stem from their self defense mechanisms such as enzyme secretion, cellular morphological changes etc. These defence mechanisms comprise the active involvement of microbial enzymes such as oxidoreductases, oxygenases etc, which influence the rates of bioremediation. Further, immobilization techniques are improving the practice at industrial scales. This article summarizes the various strategies inherent in the biological sorption and remediation of heavy metals.

Introduction

Recent years have evinced an unparalleled population growth and an accelerated pace of industrialization in line with it. Although, the quality of human life has substantially improved over the years, it is inevitable not to ignore that these developmental activities have taken place at the cost of the quality of our environment. During the last century, mining, electroplating, smelting, fertilizer, pesticides, tanneries, paper and electronic industries have accounted for the release of large amounts of heavy metals and petroleum hydrocarbons into the natural ecosystem, which has been reported to have disrupted the physiological functions in biological systems (Taiwo et al., 2016; Arivalagan et al., 2014). Environmental contamination can also occur through leaching of heavy metals, metal corrosion, atmospheric deposition, sediment resuspension to soil and ground water and metal evaporation from the water resources (Weerasundara et al., 2017; Francov
a et al., 2017). Hence, sediments constitute the major phase of contamination by metals in the aquatic systems (Nagajyoti et al., 2010). Among the pollutants, the hazardous heavy metals such as Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd), Lead (Pb), Copper (Cu), Chromium (Cr), Nickel (Ni), Zinc (Zn), Aluminum (Al) and Manganese (Mn) have known to be the major threats to the environment (Ullah et al., 2015; Dhanarani et al., 2016; Karthik et al., 2017a). These heavy metals impart serious health issues both to humans and ecosystems (Zeraatkar et al., 2016; Chen et al., 2015; Ullah et al., 2015). Source of various heavy metals are listed in Table 1. The heavy metal pollutants can enter into the environment through natural and anthropogenic ways and can be deposited in soils, water bodies or in the air (Kuppusamy et al., 2017; Chen et al., 2015).