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Karthikeyan OP, Smith TJ, Dandare SU, Parwin KS, Singh H, Loh HX, Cunningham MR, Williams PN, Nichol T, Subramanian A, Ramasamy K, Kumaresan D. Metal(loid) speciation and transformation by aerobic methanotrophs. Microbiome 2021; 9:156. [PMID: 34229757 PMCID: PMC8262016 DOI: 10.1186/s40168-021-01112-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2021] [Accepted: 06/09/2021] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Manufacturing and resource industries are the key drivers for economic growth with a huge environmental cost (e.g. discharge of industrial effluents and post-mining substrates). Pollutants from waste streams, either organic or inorganic (e.g. heavy metals), are prone to interact with their physical environment that not only affects the ecosystem health but also the livelihood of local communities. Unlike organic pollutants, heavy metals or trace metals (e.g. chromium, mercury) are non-biodegradable, bioaccumulate through food-web interactions and are likely to have a long-term impact on ecosystem health. Microorganisms provide varied ecosystem services including climate regulation, purification of groundwater, rehabilitation of contaminated sites by detoxifying pollutants. Recent studies have highlighted the potential of methanotrophs, a group of bacteria that can use methane as a sole carbon and energy source, to transform toxic metal (loids) such as chromium, mercury and selenium. In this review, we synthesise recent advances in the role of essential metals (e.g. copper) for methanotroph activity, uptake mechanisms alongside their potential to transform toxic heavy metal (loids). Case studies are presented on chromium, selenium and mercury pollution from the tanneries, coal burning and artisanal gold mining, respectively, which are particular problems in the developing economy that we propose may be suitable for remediation by methanotrophs. Video Abstract.
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Affiliation(s)
- Obulisamy Parthiba Karthikeyan
- School of Biological Sciences & Institute for Global Food Security, Queen’s University Belfast, 19 Chlorine Gardens, Belfast, UK
- Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI USA
- Department of Engineering Technology, College of Technology, University of Houston, Houston, TX USA
| | - Thomas J. Smith
- Biomolecular Sciences Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK
| | - Shamsudeen Umar Dandare
- School of Biological Sciences & Institute for Global Food Security, Queen’s University Belfast, 19 Chlorine Gardens, Belfast, UK
| | - Kamaludeen Sara Parwin
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India
| | - Heetasmin Singh
- Department of Chemistry, University of Guyana, Georgetown, Guyana
| | - Hui Xin Loh
- School of Biological Sciences & Institute for Global Food Security, Queen’s University Belfast, 19 Chlorine Gardens, Belfast, UK
| | - Mark R Cunningham
- School of Biological Sciences & Institute for Global Food Security, Queen’s University Belfast, 19 Chlorine Gardens, Belfast, UK
| | - Paul Nicholas Williams
- School of Biological Sciences & Institute for Global Food Security, Queen’s University Belfast, 19 Chlorine Gardens, Belfast, UK
| | - Tim Nichol
- Biomolecular Sciences Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK
| | | | | | - Deepak Kumaresan
- School of Biological Sciences & Institute for Global Food Security, Queen’s University Belfast, 19 Chlorine Gardens, Belfast, UK
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