Microbial bioremediation of heavy metal approaches and advancement

Abstract

In the last few decades industrial revolution and rapid urbanization, uses of pesticides in the agriculture, as well as mining often lead to accumulation of heavy metals in the soil and water ecosystem. Although some of the heavy metals such as Zn, Co, Cu and Fe considered as essential trace elements required by the plants for the catalytic activity or as cofactors for the several enzymatic reactions. However the excess accumulation of the heavy metals in the environment such as soil or water ecosystem can lead to severe challenges to environments and human health. The accumulation of heavy metals in the human being can lead to the distruction of membrane integrity, DNA or inhibition of several proteins. Although to mitigate the challenges of heavy metals toxicity several traditional approaches have been followed, but the high cost, limited resources again appear as a challenge. In this context bioremediation or the microbial based bioremediation of the heavy metal gaining attention in the recent past. The paper has been compiled to briefly discuss the effect of heavy metal son the plant or human beings, the mechanism followed by the microbial species during the bioremediation of heavy metals and the application of microbial species in the bioremediation of heavy metals. © 2025