Bioremediation of pesticides and heavy metals: a discussion about the use of different strategies using actinobacteria

Abstract

Actinobacteria exhibit cosmopolitan distribution since their members are widely distributed in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. In the environment, they play relevant ecological roles including recycling of substances, degradation of complex polymers, and production of bioactive molecules. In turn, biotechnological potential of actinobacteria in the environment was demonstrated by their ability to remove organic and inorganic pollutants. This ability is the reason why actinobacteria have received special attention as candidates for bioremediation, which has gained importance because of the widespread release of contaminants into the environment. Among organic contaminants, pesticides are widely used for pest control, although the negative impact of these chemicals on the environmental balance is increasingly becoming apparent. Similarly, the extensive application of heavy metals in industrial processes leads to highly contaminated areas worldwide. Several studies focused on the use of actinobacteria for cleaning up the environment were performed in the last 15 years. Strategies such as bioaugmentation, biostimulation, cell immobilization, production of biosurfactants, the design of defined mixed cultures and the use of plant-microbe systems were developed to enhance the capabilities of actinobacteria in bioremediation. In this chapter, we compiled and discussed works focused on the study of different bioremediation strategies using actinobacteria and how they contributed to the improvement of the already existing strategies. In addition, we discuss the importance of omic studies to elucidate mechanisms and regulations that bacteria use to cope with pollutant toxicity since they are still little known in actinobacteria. A brief account of the sources and harmful effects of pesticides and heavy metals is also given.