Editors: Dr. Natchimuthu Karmegam

Dr. Mani Prakash

ISBN: 978-93-94174-13-9

G. Vijayanandini*

Department of Life Science/Microbiology, Mridula - Educational Learning Centre, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Recent years have shown a rapid development in all arenas socially, economically and scientifically. Modernisation has happened hand in hand with a turbulent rise in pollution. Increase in population and required living areas to cater it has strongly affected our environment. Organic and inorganic chemical pollutants have consumed our ecosystem. Microbial bioremediation employs various metabolic pathways that produce enzymes which can mitigate such toxic pollutants. This process is quite cost effective and reusable. Microbes can be employed as single genus or as a consortium in in-situ or ex-situ processes as tools to remediate toxic compounds even under extreme environmental conditions. Microbes can be engineered to scale up a process to field application. Well-designed bioremediation arrangement based on the pollutant's nature and properties can accelerate the process with great efficiency. In this chapter we unfold the facts about different pollutants that can be degraded by microbes, role of microbes as bioremediating agents, the various factors which decide the success of bioremediation along with their advantages and disadvantages that have to be defeated with researches in future.

*Corresponding author; e-mail: nandinig07@gmail.com

Cite this Chapter: Vijayanandini, G., 2022. Microbes as potential bioremediation agents. In: N. Karmegam and M. Prakash (Eds.), Status, Trends and Advances in Bioremediation. Excellent Publishers, India. pp. 1-21. doi: https://doi.org/10.20546/978-93-94174-13-9_1