 Biodegradation:-

It is the breaking down of organic substances by

microorganisms into smaller organic or
inorganic components.
 Bioremediation:-

Bioremediation technology uses

microorganisms to reduce, eliminate, or
contain contaminants.

It works by either transforming or

degrading contaminants to
nonhazardous or
less hazardous chemicals.
 Biotransformation:-

It is any alteration of the molecular or atomic

structure of a compound by microorganisms.
 Biostimulation:
Biostimulation is the addition of nutrients, oxygen,
or other electron donors and acceptors to increase
the number or activity of naturally occurring
microorganisms available for bioremediation.
These components can be added in either liquid
(soil washing) or gas (soil venting) form.
 Bioaugmentation:

Bioaugmentation is the addition of microorganisms that

can biotransform or biodegrade a particular
contaminant.

Ex situ bioaugmentation is a common technology at

municipal wastewater treatment facilities.
 IN SITU:-
“in place; in the natural or
original position or
place.”

 EX SITU:-
“in a position or location
other than the natural or
original one.”
 Air Sparging:-

It is a type of soil venting where air or other gases are

injected below the ground into saturated sediments.
All microorganisms need carbon. Carbon usually
comes from an organic source, but also can be
provided in dissolved inorganic forms such as
carbon dioxide.
 Slurries & Sediment Washing:-

Slurry bioreactors are stirred tanks within which

biodegradation or biotransformation takes place in an
aerated environment.

Sediment washing is primarily means of reducing the

volume of contaminated sediment by solubilising
readily desorbed contaminants.
 Land Farming, Soil Piles
& Composting:-
• The mixing of waste with surface
soil over a tract of land is “Land-
farming”.
• A modified form of land farming
has been adopted to comply with
revised environmental regulations,
which is “Soil Piles”.
• A process applied to soil sediment
biopiles that controls and utilizes
heat generated by aerobic
microbial metabolism is
“Composting”.
 Introduction:-
Plastics are inert and usually resistant to microbial attack in nature

Hazard of discarding waste

plastic, so called “white pollution”,
is becoming more
& more severe.

The degradation mechanisms will vary depending

on the polymers’ environment and desired
application.
Sr. No. Cities No. of Scavengers Plastic Waste(tons)
Per day Per year
01 Faisalabad 1500 44.4 13320
02 Gujranwala 1200 41.2 12360
03 Karachi 7000 412.8 123840
04 Hyderabad 1200 35.1 10530
05 Peshawar 800 29.9 8970
06 Quetta 600 31.0 9300
 Deleterious effects
 Infertility of soil
 Preventing degradation of other normal
substances
 Depletion of underground water sources.
 What is Degradation?
Any physical or chemical change in a polymer as a result of
environmental factors, such as light, heat, moisture, chemical
conditions or biologic activity is termed as degradation.
Microorganisms involved in the degradation of both natural &
synthetic plastics.

Plastics are biodegraded:

-aerobically (wild nature)
-anaerobically (sediments and landfills)
-partly aerobically & partly anaerobically (compost & soil)
 Polyethylene:

- In the absence of proper disposal methods polyethylene waste

is usually burned, causing grave air pollution

- can be biodegraded if the right microbial strain is isolated

- Streptomyces strains & fungi like Aspergillus and Penicillium

are reported active against polyethylene
 Polyurathane:-

- Polyurathanes have also been found to be susceptible to

microbial attack

- A wide variety of fungi like Curvularia, Fusarium,

Aureobasidium, Cladosporium, and bacteria like
Pseudomonas and Comamonas are active against
polyurethane.
 Polyvinyl Chloride:

- It has been reported that PVC having low

molecular weight can be exposed to biodegradation
by the use of white-rot fungi
 PHB & PHBV:-

- PHB : poly (3-hydroxyburate)

- PHVB : poly (3-hydroxyburate-co valerate)
- Microorganisms colonize on the surface of polymers and
secrete enzymes
 Rate of polymer biodegradation depends on:
- Surface area
- Microbial activity
- pH
- Temperature
- Moisture
- Presence of other nutrient materials
 The studies showed that the degraders are widely
distributed among the families of
- Pseudonocardiaceae
- Micromonosporaceae
- Thermonosporaceae
- Streptosporangiaceae
- Streptomycetaceae.
 Introduction:
Metals cannot be biodegraded

But, can be transformed

from one form to another
by changing their
oxidation state, with the
help of microorganisms
Reduction of selenate to selenide by a single
bacterium: Desulfovibrio desulfuricans is a sulfate
reducer
 
 Se: SeO4 2- ==> SeO3 3- more toxic, soluble
 SeO3 3- ==> Se(0) insoluble
 SeO4 2- ==> H2Se insoluble
 Bacillus selenitireducens and Bacillus arsenicoselenatis
 
 As: AsO4 2- ==> AsO3 2- more toxic, soluble
 AsO3 2- ==> AsO4 2- less toxic, soluble 
 Cr: CrO4 2- ==> Cr(OH)3 insoluble
 Some microorganisms have developed various
resistance mechanisms to prevent metal toxicity.
 The strategies are either to prevent entry of the
metal into the cell or actively pump the metal out
of the cell.
 Sequestration:

It involves metal complexation with microbial

products such as extracellular polymeric substances
and proteins

It may also involve the binding to elecronegative

components in cellular membranes
The goal is to reduce or eliminate metal toxicity via
complexation
 The proteins involved, initially discovered in fungi,
rapidly bind metals as they enter the cell, effectively
reducing their toxicity

Thiobaccillus and Leptotbrix readily solubilize a vaiety of

metals via oxidation, including manganese, uranium
and copper.
 Complexation:
Bacteria, algae, fungi and yeasts have all been found
to complex or absorb metals.

Complexation of metals occurs in two ways:

A: The metals may be involved in nonspecific binding to

cell wall surfaces, the slime layer, or that both types of
metal complexation are used to reduce metal toxicity
and mobility.

B: They may be taken up intracellularly.

 Aquatic Systems:
Technologies for metal removal are based on
microbial-metal interaction:
- the binding of metal ions to microbial cell
surfaces
- the intracellular uptake of metals
- the precipitation of metals viz complexation with
microbially produced lignands.
 Acid-mine Drainage:
Acid mine drainage and effluent waters
containing are commonly remediated as wetlands.

Wetland treatment of acid mine drainage is cost

effective and less labor intensive than chemical
treatments.

It involves a combination of interactions including

microbial adsorption of metals, metal
bioaccumulation, bacterial oxidation of metals, and
sulfate reduction.
Marine Water:
Use of marine bacteria Deleys venustus and Moraxella
for copper uptake from seawater.

Additionally, a scientist named Corpe in 1975,

performed metal-binding studies with copper using a
polymer from a marine bacteria, and found that
insoluble copper precipitates, effectively decreasing
copper toxicity.
 Waste Water:
Generally, it is a more efficient process (sewage
treatment).

The genus Zoogloea, an important organism in sewage

treatment, readily forms an anionic slime matrix.

Klebsiella aerogenes is another common sewage bacterium

with binds metal ions with extracellular polymers.

Complexed metals are then removed from the wastewater

via sedimentation during the treatment process.
 Nuclear Waste:
It can contain a combination of nonradioactive &
radioactive metals.

In the removal of nuclides from

contaminated systems, biological adsorbents
are superior to conventional adsorbents such
as zeolite and activated carbon.
For example, Penicillium chrysogenum was
found to adsorb radium.
 The role of soil micro-biota in the biochemical
conversion of organic and inorganic contaminants has
been realized, priority research needs have been
identified and effort has been made to understand the
ecological, biochemical and genetic basis of microbial
contaminant degradation, with a view to enhancing
microbial capabilities and thus designing more
effective bioremediation processes.