Advances in Bioremediation Strategies: Solving Current Application Limitations and Expanding Their Use to Emerging Organic Contaminants Ⅱ

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2020) | Viewed by 6350

Special Issue Editor

1. Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín (CSIC), 18008 Granada, Spain;
2. Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), 28006 Madrid, Spain
Interests: fate of organic contaminant in the environment; chemical methods for measuring bioavailability and their application; sustainable and low-cost bioremediation strategies; biocarbons for purifying contaminated water
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In consideration of the global increment of soil and water pollution, efforts have been focused on the development of different techniques for soil and water restoration, with bioremediation being preferred over other physicochemical processes because it is more cost-effective and eco-friendly.

Bioremediation strategies allow treating contaminated media using microorganisms, plants, or microbial or plant enzymes to degrade, remove, or immobilize contaminants. These technologies can be applied to soil and water systems, in situ or ex situ, to either reduce the numbers of contaminants to levels where there are no longer any toxicological effects or even completely remove them. In the last 20 years, bioremediation has gained increasing scientific attention, and significant advances have been made. However, there are still some limitations, especially in the use of bioremediation at field scales, due to the fact that suitable environmental conditions for these biological processes are often lacking at specific contaminated sites, resulting in lower-than-expected bioremediation efficiencies. The selection of adapted microorganisms or plants, natural metabolic inhibition, non-availability of suitable nutrient levels, and environmental conditions are some of the issues that need further research in order to improve the performance of bioremediation strategies. Additionally, research in this area should aim at developing new bioremediation strategies that allow for the effective removal of emerging organic contaminants and complex mixtures. Special attention should be given to the formation of intermediate products that are even more toxic than their parent compounds.

This Special Issue of Applied Sciences is a forum for the discussion around the advances and development of new technologies in bioremediation. Papers dealing with the aforementioned limitations and challenges are invited. Also relevant are studies on bioavailability as a validation tool of bioremediation effectiveness. Research articles covering the field application of new and sustainable bioremediation strategies will be primarily considered. Likewise, critical review articles which describe the current state-of-the-art are welcome, particularly those dealing with economic, regulatory, and social perception issues.

Dr. Laura Delgado-Moreno
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • biostimulation
  • bioaugmentation
  • phytoremediation
  • mycoremediation
  • bioavailability
  • organic and inorganic contaminants

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 2683 KiB  
Article
Native Plant Capacity for Gentle Remediation in Heavily Polluted Mines
by María Noelia Jiménez, Gianluigi Bacchetta, Francisco Bruno Navarro, Mauro Casti and Emilia Fernández-Ondoño
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(4), 1769; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11041769 - 17 Feb 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1817
Abstract
The use of plant species to stabilize and accumulate trace elements in contaminated soils is considered of great usefulness given the difficulty of decontaminating large areas subjected to mining for long periods. In this work, the bioaccumulation of trace elements is studied by [...] Read more.
The use of plant species to stabilize and accumulate trace elements in contaminated soils is considered of great usefulness given the difficulty of decontaminating large areas subjected to mining for long periods. In this work, the bioaccumulation of trace elements is studied by relating the concentrations in leaves and roots of three plants of Mediterranean distribution (Dittrichia viscosa, Cistus salviifolius, Euphorbia pithyusa subsp. cupanii) with the concentrations of trace elements in contaminated and uncontaminated soils. Furthermore, in the case of D. viscosa, to know the concentration of each element by biomass, the pool of trace elements was determined both in the aerial part and in the roots. The bioaccumulation factor was not high enough in any of the species studied to be considered as phytoextractors. However, species like the ones studied in this work that live on soils with a wide range of concentration of trace elements and that develop a considerable biomass could be considered for stabilization of contaminated soils. The plant species studied in this work are good candidates for gentle-remediation options in the polluted Mediterranean. Full article
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11 pages, 1781 KiB  
Article
Mycoremediation of Soils Polluted with Trichloroethylene: First Evidence of Pleurotus Genus Effectiveness
by Begoña Mayans, Raquel Camacho-Arévalo, Carlos García-Delgado, Cynthia Alcántara, Norbert Nägele, Rafael Antón-Herrero, Consuelo Escolástico and Enrique Eymar
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(4), 1354; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11041354 - 03 Feb 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2518
Abstract
Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a proven carcinogenic chlorinated organic compound widely used as a solvent in industrial cleaning solutions; it is easily found in the soil, air, and water and is a hazardous environmental pollutant. Most studies have attempted to remove TCE from air [...] Read more.
Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a proven carcinogenic chlorinated organic compound widely used as a solvent in industrial cleaning solutions; it is easily found in the soil, air, and water and is a hazardous environmental pollutant. Most studies have attempted to remove TCE from air and water using different anaerobic bacteria species. In addition, a few have used white-rot fungi, although there are hardly any in soil. The objective of the present work is to assess TCE removal efficiency using two species of the genus Pleurotus that have not been tested before: Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus eryngii, growing on a sandy loam soil. These fungi presented different intra- and extracellular enzymatic systems (chytochrome P450 (CYP450), laccase, Mn peroxidase (MnP)) capable of aerobically degrading TCE to less harmful compounds. The potential toxicity of TCE to P. ostreatus and P. eryngii was firstly tested in a TCE-spiked liquid broth (70 mg L−1 and 140 mg L−1) for 14 days. Then, both fungi were assessed for their ability to degrade the pollutant in sandy loam soil spiked with 140 mg kg−1 of TCE. P. ostreatus and P. eryngii improved the natural dissipation of TCE from soil by 44%. Extracellular enzymes were poorly expressed, but mainly in the presence of the contaminant, in accordance with the hypothesis of the involvement of CYP450. Full article
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12 pages, 2007 KiB  
Article
Influence of Soil Characteristics on Wood Biodeterioration by Brown Rot Fungi
by Javier Ribera, Elisabeth Michel and Francis W. M. R. Schwarze
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(24), 8837; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10248837 - 10 Dec 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1603
Abstract
Soil conditions can directly influence the inoculum potential of wood decay fungi, which is likely to be a major factor in the premature failure of utility poles across Europe. The objective of our study was to assess the influence of soil pH, humic [...] Read more.
Soil conditions can directly influence the inoculum potential of wood decay fungi, which is likely to be a major factor in the premature failure of utility poles across Europe. The objective of our study was to assess the influence of soil pH, humic acid and iron on wood decay. For this purpose, we incubated Fe-impregnated wood specimens on artificial medium to evaluate the influence of the metal on the activity of brown rot fungi. Moreover, the impact of Cu-leaching from impregnated wood specimens that were exposed to humic acid solutions was measured. In addition, weight losses caused by brown rot fungi in impregnated wood pole segments and stiffness (Young’s modulus of Elasticity) of Cu-impregnated wood specimens were quantified. The pH measurements showed that the soil samples were slightly acid (pH = 6.7 ± 0.7). In comparison to non-impregnated controls, the Fe-impregnated samples significantly increased weight losses by brown rot fungi (>30–40%). In the presence of humic acid the release of copper from chromium-free wood preservatives (up to 143.34 mg L−1) was enhanced. Weight losses in impregnated wood segments by brown rot fungi ranged from 5.3 to 20.4%. The recorded reduction in stiffness by brown rot fungi ranged from approximately 3.96 to 55.52% for Cu-impregnated wood specimens after 12 weeks. Our study shows that the pH, humic acid, iron content and selected wood preservatives greatly influence susceptibility of impregnated wood to brown rot fungi during ground contact. Full article
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