Search Results (5)

Air pollution has become one of the biggest problems throughout the world. Smog has a severe effect on the pulmonary and circulatory systems, which causes a significant number of deaths globally. Therefore, the remediation of air pollutants to maintain ecosystem processes and functions and to improve human health is a crucial problem confronting mankind today. This review aims to discuss the health effects of smog on humans. This review will also focus on the bioremediation of air pollution (smog) using bacteria, fungi, phytoremediation, nanotechnology, and phylloremediation (using plants and microbes). Phylloremediation is the most effective technology for removing air pollution naturally. The future perspective presents a great need to produce an ecosystem where microbes, plants, and nanoparticles synergistically control smog. In addition, further advancements would be needed to modify the genetic makeup of microbes and plants. Biotechnological approaches like CRISPR-Cas9 can be applied to the editing and cutting of specific genes responsible for the bioremediation of VOCs, NOx, SOx, and harmful hydrocarbons. The extracted genes can then be expressed in biologically modified microorganisms and plants for the enhanced bioremediation of smog. Full article

Ozone is a typical hazardous pollutant in Earth’s lower atmosphere, but the phyllosphere and its microbiome are promising for air pollution remediation. Despite research to explore the efficiency and mechanism of ozone phylloremediation, the response and role of the phyllosphere microbiome remains untouched. In this study, we exposed Euonymus japonicus to different ozone levels and revealed microbial successions and roles of the phyllosphere microbiome during the exposure. The low-level exposure (156 ± 20 ppb) induced limited response compared to other environmental factors. Fungi failed to sustain the community richness and diversity, despite the stable ITS concentration, while bacteria witnessed an abundance loss. We subsequently elevated the exposure level to 5000~10,000 ppb, which considerably deteriorated the bacterial and fungal diversity. Our results identified extremely tolerant species, including bacterial genera (Curtobacterium, Marmoricola, and Microbacterium) and fungal genera (Cladosporium and Alternaria). Compositional differences suggested that most core fungal taxa were related to plant diseases and biocontrol, and ozone exposure might intensify such antagonism, thus possibly influencing plant health and ozone remediation. This assumption was further evidenced in the functional predictions via a pathogen predominance. This study shed light on microbial responses to ozone exposure in the phyllosphere and enlightened the augmentation of ozone phylloremediation through the microbial role. Full article

Plants can ‘catch’ and mitigate airborne pollutants and are assisted by fungi inhabiting their leaves. The structure and function of the fungal communities inhabiting the phyllosphere of hornbeam trees growing in two chronically polluted areas, the oilfield of Bóbrka and the city center of Warsaw, were compared to the ones growing in one nature reserve, the Białowieża National Park. Fungi were isolated and characterized both phylogenetically and functionally for their potential role in air pollution mitigation. Both culture-dependent (e.g., enzyme assays and tolerance tests) and culture-independent methods (e.g., ITS and shotgun sequencings) were used. Furthermore, the degradation potential of the fungi was assessed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Shotgun sequencing showed that the phyllosphere fungal communities were dominated by fungi belonging to the phylum Ascomycota. Aureobasidium was the only genus detected at the three locations with a relative abundance ≥1.0%. Among the cultivated epiphytic fungi from Bóbrka, Fusarium sporotrichioides AT11, Phoma herbarum AT15, and Lophiostoma sp. AT37 showed in vitro aromatic hydrocarbon degradation potential with laccase activities of 1.24, 3.62, and 7.2 μU L⁻¹, respectively, and peroxidase enzymes with activities of 3.46, 2.28, and 7.49 μU L⁻¹, respectively. Furthermore, Fusarium sporotrichioides AT11 and Phoma herbarum AT15 tolerated exposure to airborne naphthalene and benzene. Lophiostoma sp. AT37 was the most tolerant to exposure to these pollutants, in line with being the best potential aromatic hydrocarbon degrader isolated in this study. Full article

One of the major health risks for humans, especially for those living in large cities, is air pollution. Air pollution consists mainly of emissions of particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, ammonia and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The organic carbon fraction of particulate matter is a mixture of hundreds of organic compounds, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), or polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), some of which are mutagenic and/or carcinogenic. Because this particulate matter represents a serious threat for human health, measures to reduce emissions and to eliminate contaminants need to be strongly reinforced, with a focus on novel biotechnologies. In this review, we will explore the possibilities that bacteria associated with plants may offer the amelioration of atmospheric contaminants in cities, and we will discuss this strategy in the context of “Green Architecture”. Full article

Since air pollution has been linked to a plethora of human health problems, strategies to improve air quality are indispensable. Despite the complexity in composition of air pollution, phytoremediation was shown to be effective in cleaning air. Plants are known to scavenge significant amounts of air pollutants on their aboveground plant parts. Leaf fall and runoff lead to transfer of (part of) the adsorbed pollutants to the soil and rhizosphere below. After uptake in the roots and leaves, plants can metabolize, sequestrate and/or excrete air pollutants. In addition, plant-associated microorganisms play an important role by degrading, detoxifying or sequestrating the pollutants and by promoting plant growth. In this review, an overview of the available knowledge about the role and potential of plant–microbe interactions to improve indoor and outdoor air quality is provided. Most importantly, common air pollutants (particulate matter, volatile organic compounds and inorganic air pollutants) and their toxicity are described. For each of these pollutant types, a concise overview of the specific contributions of the plant and its microbiome is presented. To conclude, the state of the art and its related future challenges are presented. Full article