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Genetic basis and importance of metal resistant genes in bacteria for bioremediation of contaminated environments with toxic metal pollutants

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Abstract

Metal pollution is one of the most persistent and complex environmental issues, causing threat to the ecosystem and human health. On exposure to several toxic metals such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, and mercury, several bacteria has evolved with many metal-resistant genes as a means of their adaptation. These genes can be further exploited for bioremediation of the metal-contaminated environments. Many operon-clustered metal-resistant genes such as cadB, chrA, copAB, pbrA, merA, and NiCoT have been reported in bacterial systems for cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, and nickel resistance and detoxification, respectively. The field of environmental bioremediation has been ameliorated by exploiting diverse bacterial detoxification genes. Genetic engineering integrated with bioremediation assists in manipulation of bacterial genome which can enhance toxic metal detoxification that is not usually performed by normal bacteria. These techniques include genetic engineering with single genes or operons, pathway construction, and alternations of the sequences of existing genes. However, numerous facets of bacterial novel metal-resistant genes are yet to be explored for application in microbial bioremediation practices. This review describes the role of bacteria and their adaptive mechanisms for toxic metal detoxification and restoration of contaminated sites.

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Acknowledgments

Authors would like to acknowledge the authorities of NIT, Rourkela, for providing facilities. Financial supports received by S.D. through the research projects from the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, on various aspects of microbial bioremediation of organic and inorganic contaminants is gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology and Ecology (LEnME), Department of Life Science, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, Odisha, 769 008, India

    Surajit Das, Hirak R. Dash & Jaya Chakraborty

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  1. Surajit Das
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Das, S., Dash, H.R. & Chakraborty, J. Genetic basis and importance of metal resistant genes in bacteria for bioremediation of contaminated environments with toxic metal pollutants. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 100, 2967–2984 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-016-7364-4

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