Microbial Systems for Enhanced Degradation of Recalcitrant Organic Pollutants
A special issue of Toxics (ISSN 2305-6304). This special issue belongs to the section "Toxicity Reduction and Environmental Remediation".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 34
Special Issue Editor
Interests: synthetic and environmental biotechnology; biodegradation of environmental pollutants; biological detection of toxic pollutants; microbial synthesis of biodegradable plastics
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Recalcitrant organic pollutants, such as pesticide residues, aromatic hydrocarbons, and halogenated compounds, pose long-term environmental risks because of their chemical stability, persistence, and toxicity to microorganisms and higher organisms. Microbial degradation constitutes a fundamental natural pathway for the transformation and detoxification of these contaminants and provides a valuable framework for exploring pollutant–microbe interactions. Research has evolved from studies of individual degraders to investigations of complex microbial consortia, revealing how pollutant toxicity shapes microbial community structure, metabolic regulation, and adaptive responses. Within microbial assemblages, interspecies interactions—such as metabolic cooperation, cross-feeding, and collective detoxification—play a critical role in enhancing degradation efficiency and maintaining functional stability under toxic stress. Compared with physicochemical approaches, microbially mediated processes are closely related to ecological functioning and biogeochemical cycling, offering insights into the links between contaminant fate and microbial ecology. However, current studies are still largely based on simplified laboratory systems, and the mechanistic relationships among toxicity, metabolic pathways, and community dynamics remain incompletely understood. This Special Issue aims to advance a mechanistic and ecological understanding of the microbial degradation of recalcitrant organic pollutants by emphasizing toxicity-driven microbial responses, metabolic interactions within consortia, and the principles governing functional stability in microbial communities.
Dr. Xiaoqiang Jia
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- recalcitrant organic pollutants
- microbial remediation
- pollutant toxicity–microbe interactions
- biodegradation mechanisms
- metabolic cooperation
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