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Role of Biosurfactants in the Remediation of Emerging Pollutants

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Management and Mitigation of Emerging Pollutants

Abstract

Biosurfactants are produced by numerous microorganisms. Such amphiphilic compounds are either extracellular or a part of the cell membrane. Biosurfactants were found to enhance pesticide bioavailability and accelerate their bioremediation. In addition, due to their amphiphilic character, they alleviate the interfacial tension of immiscible liquid as well as the surface area and increase the sorption and solubility of hydrophobic pollutants. Being of biological origin, biosurfactants are highly selective, less toxic, and biodegradable in nature. They possess a wide range of action spectra under extreme physical conditions (variable pH, temperature, salinity, and low critical micelle concentration). These properties of biosurfactants enable their usage as a potent alternative agent for the remediation of emerging pollutants. Among the various pollutants released into the environment, petroleum hydrocarbons and pesticides are the major contributors, damaging the environment as well as human health. Therefore, controlling these pollutants and other recalcitrant organic compounds and remediating the contaminated area through the development of sustainable alternative technologies is desirable. The application of biosurfactants is suitable to circumvent the pollutants issue without causing auxiliary harm to the environment. With the advances in metagenomic and in silico tools, the characterization of pollutant-degrading microbes at taxonomic and functional levels has become feasible. This chapter presents a comprehensive outlook of the kind of microbial biosurfactants, their properties, and their utility in the remediation of emerging pollutants.

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  1. Subhasree Ray and Shivangi Sankhyan contributed equally with all other contributors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Life Sciences, SBSR, Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Subhasree Ray & Shivangi Sankhyan

  2. Department of Biotechnology, Guru Ghasidas Central University, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India

    Madan Sonkar

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, Republic of Korea

    Prasun Kumar

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  1. Subhasree Ray
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  2. Shivangi Sankhyan
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  3. Madan Sonkar
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  4. Prasun Kumar
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University Institute of Biotechnology, Chandigarh University, Mohali, India

    Nancy George

  2. University Institute of Biotechnology, Chandigarh University, Mohali, India

    Vagish Dwibedi

  3. School of Pharmaceuticals and Population Health Informatics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Dehradun Institute of Technology University, Dehradun, India

    Santosh Kumar Rath

  4. Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

    Prakram Singh Chauhan

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Ray, S., Sankhyan, S., Sonkar, M., Kumar, P. (2023). Role of Biosurfactants in the Remediation of Emerging Pollutants. In: George, N., Dwibedi, V., Rath, S.K., Chauhan, P.S. (eds) Management and Mitigation of Emerging Pollutants. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41005-5_15

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