Soil and water contamination has become a major global concern as a result of industrialization and the use of natural resources. The utilization of microorganisms for heavy metal recovery from soil, sediments, and water has got a lot of interest in the recent period of environmental protection. The fundamental mechanism of microbial remediation for decontaminating the environment is metal biotransformation. Microbial remediation is a cutting-edge technology that uses metal immobilization to reclaim contaminated environments. Heavy metals would be less available to living systems if this strategy would be taken. Precipitation and transformation of microorganisms’ metabolic activities have been proven to be highly beneficial in this setting. Metal contamination can be reduced as a result of this method. The use of living creatures for pollution decontamination is a holistic approach that includes microbes, algae, fungi, and, higher plants in this process called bioremediation. Microorganisms have the ability to modify the metal oxidation state and they can also accumulate oxides of metals and zerovalent metals on or into their cells. Here, we have represented up-to-date information on several microbial mechanisms for removing metals from contaminated soils and water in this chapter. Metal oxidizing microorganisms and their use in remediation are emphasized for the same reason.
Elsevier, Metals and Metalloids in Soil-Plant-Water Systems: Phytophysiology and Remediation Techniques, Volume , 1 January 2022
