Microbial fingerprinting techniques and their role in the remediation of environmental pollution

Abstract

Environmental pollution has increased in recent decades as a result of enhanced anthropogenic activities, poor farming techniques, and industrial growth. In the elimination of resistant environmental toxins (metals), bioremediation has been found as a desirable and efficient approach to environmental safety. Genomics, proteomics, metagenomics, metabolomics, transcriptomics, along with multidisciplinary approaches are used to characterize the function, metabolism, and composition of microbes, as well as to elucidate the environment based on changes in microbes, which has significant and directing relevance in environmental management, monitoring, and repair. Molecular microbiology approaches, among other microbial biodegradation techniques, have transformed microbial biotechnology, resulting in high-throughput and quick methods for culture-independent evaluation and utilization of bacteria existing in contaminated sites. Pollutants existing in contaminated locations, whether inorganic or organic, can disrupt the ecosystem by harming the fauna and flora. Because of its comparably high efficacy and safety, the microbial molecular biology technique might greatly increase the efficiency of naturally existing microbes for field bioremediation. Recent approaches with numerous techniques, including polymerase chain reaction (PCR), denaturating gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), amplified ribosomal DNA (rDNA) restriction analysis (ARDRA), terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP), rRNA intergenic spacer analysis (RISA), and single-strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) can be used selectively in studies of microbial ecology and flora have supplied exceptional information about microbial communities and their function in bio-remediating environmental pollution. This review provides an overview of the uses of microbial fingerprinting approaches in the bioremediation of various contaminants in environmental matrices, as well as an explanation of current breakthroughs in such techniques' applications.