Microbial Bioremediation

Dear Colleagues,

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary of the English Language tells us that the term “bioremediation”, meaning the cleanup of contaminated environmental matrices such as soils, sediments, and groundwater, as well as waste from a variety of human activities, containing pollutants that pose environmental and health risks, by means of the use of microorganisms (e.g., bacteria and fungi) able to break down the unwanted substances, appeared in the scientific literature for the first time in 1986. Since then, the study of microbial degradative capabilities in view of their possible exploitation in environmental reclamation protocols—both in situ and ex situ—has had a burst, witnessed by the rich literature available today in this field, although bioremediation is still not a widely diffuse practice in full-scale applications. Nevertheless, microbial bioremediation can be seen today as an effective and inexpensive biotechnological strategy providing an alternative to energivorous and labor-intensive physico-chemical options to remove noxious contaminants from polluted contexts or to prevent toxic waste release into the environment. Bioremediation processes are typically the result of synergic interrelations of complex microbial consortia acting through parallel or sequential catabolic reactions. Although traditional culture-dependent approaches can provide key information on the metabolic traits and the functional activity of axenic cultures of microbial strains isolated from contaminated sites, only the recent development of metagenomic methods supported by high-throughput DNA sequencing technology has given information hitherto unknown regarding the microbial communities as a whole and has also allowed us to obtain an in-depth understanding of the metabolic capabilities of the indigenous microbes, adapted to the actual environmental conditions prevailing at specific sites to be remediated.

In light of the picture outlined above, this Special Issue of Microorganisms aims to collect the results of the most recent studies concerning microbial bioremediation, falling within the following sub-themes: A) New insights into the in vitro biodegradation of recalcitrant contaminants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), alkylphenol polyethoxylates (APEOs), and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) by bacterial and fungal strains; B) Depictions of in situ bioremediation dynamics as revealed by metagenomic studies at specific contaminated sites; C) The functioning of innovative microbially catalyzed processes for ex situ treatments of polluted environmental matrices.

Prof. Dr. Giovanni Vallini
Prof. Dr. Silvia Lampis
Guest Editors

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