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Biotechnological advances in bioremediation of heavy metals contaminated ecosystems: an overview with special reference to phytoremediation
Mani, D. & Kumar, Chitranjan
Abstract
The ability of heavy metals bioaccumulation to
cause toxicity in biological systems—human, animals,
microorganisms and plants—is an important issue for
environmental health and safety. Recent biotechnological
approaches for bioremediation include biomineralization
(mineral synthesis by living organisms or biomaterials),
biosorption (dead microbial and renewable agricultural
biomass), phytostabilization (immobilization in plant
roots), hyperaccumulation (exceptional metal concentration
in plant shoots), dendroremediation (growing trees in
polluted soils), biostimulation (stimulating living microbial
population), rhizoremediation (plant and microbe),
mycoremediation (stimulating living fungi/mycelial
ultrafiltration), cyanoremediation (stimulating algal mass
for remediation) and genoremediation (stimulating gene for
remediation process). The adequate restoration of the
environment requires cooperation, integration and
assimilation of such biotechnological advances along with
traditional and ethical wisdom to unravel the mystery of
nature in the emerging field of bioremediation. This review
highlights better understanding of the problems associated
with the toxicity of heavy metals to the contaminated
ecosystems and their viable, sustainable and eco-friendly
bioremediation technologies, especially the mechanisms of
phytoremediation of heavy metals along with some case
studies in India and abroad. However, the challenges
(biosafety assessment and genetic pollution) involved in
adopting the new initiatives for cleaning-up the heavy
metals-contaminated ecosystems from both ecological and
greener point of view must not be ignored.
Keywords
Biomineralization; Bioremediation; Biostimulation; Cyanoremediation; Detoxification; Genoremediation; Mycoremediation; Phytoremediation; Rhizoremediation
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