Bioremediation of Industrial Waste Using Microbial Metabolic Diversity

Abstract

Evolution is mainly driven by environmental stresses. Among all the living beings, microorganisms have elaborated a wide range of physiological responses to survive in different ecosystems. Variations in the environment allow microorganisms to acquire new gene(s) through different processes and to lose preexisting genes by the processes like mutation or deletion. Our environment is heavily contaminated by indiscriminate and wide spread use of polythene, paints, petroleum products, industrial dyes, toxic chemicals and pesticides etc. Indiscriminate use of these chemicals/polymers adversely affects the environment and ultimately human beings and other living systems. Microbial evolution/ adaptation is the key of formation of a fully functional catabolic pathway enabling them to use toxic compound(s) as a source of carbon and energy. Physical and chemical methods are applicable in a modified matrix or help in converting the pollutants from one phase to another but the microbial degradation process to detoxify the pollutants can be effectively used to overcome the pollution problem.