Abstract
Petroleum hydrocarbons represent the most frequent environmental contaminant. The introduction of petroleum hydrocarbons into a pristine environment immediately changes the nature of that environment, resulting in reduced ecosystem functionality. Natural attenuation represents the single, most important biological process which removes petroleum hydrocarbons from the environment. It is a process where microorganisms present at the site degrade the organic contaminants without the input of external bioremediation enhancers (i.e., electron donors, electron acceptors, other microorganisms or nutrients). So successful is this natural attenuation process that in environmental biotechnology, bioremediation has developed steadily over the past 50 years based on this natural biodegradation process. Bioremediation is recognized as the most environmentally friendly remediation approach for the removal of petroleum hydrocarbons from an environment as it does not require intensive chemical, mechanical, and costly interventions. However, it is under-utilized as a commercial remediation strategy due to incomplete hydrocarbon catabolism and lengthy remediation times when compared with rival technologies. This review aims to describe the fate of petroleum hydrocarbons in the environment and discuss their interactions with abiotic and biotic components of the environment under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Furthermore, the mechanisms for dealing with petroleum hydrocarbon contamination in the environment will be examined. When petroleum hydrocarbons contaminate land, they start to interact with its surrounding, including physical (dispersion), physiochemical (evaporation, dissolution, sorption), chemical (photo-oxidation, auto-oxidation), and biological (plant and microbial catabolism of hydrocarbons) interactions. As microorganism (including bacteria and fungi) play an important role in the degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons, investigations into the microbial communities within contaminated soils is essential for any bioremediation project. This review highlights the fate of petroleum hydrocarbons in tertial environments, as well as the contributions of different microbial consortia for optimum petroleum hydrocarbon bioremediation potential. The impact of high-throughput metagenomic sequencing in determining the underlying degradation mechanisms is also discussed. This knowledge will aid the development of more efficient, cost-effective commercial bioremediation technologies.
Highlights
The introduction of petroleum hydrocarbons into a pristine environment immediately changes the nature of that environment
Individual microorganisms have mechanisms for hydrocarbon degradation [5], other species may aid in this process by way of symbiotic relationships [6]
This review aims to describe the fate of petroleum hydrocarbons in the environment and discuss their interactions with abiotic and biotic components under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions
Summary
The introduction of petroleum hydrocarbons into a pristine environment immediately changes the nature of that environment. Individual microorganisms have mechanisms for hydrocarbon degradation (i.e., the enzyme-catalyzed breakdown of inorganic and organic pollutants) [5], other species may aid in this process by way of symbiotic relationships (i.e., release of glucose to aid in proliferation of hydrocarbon-degrading species or secretion of surfactants to render the oil more bioavailable) [6]. Successful is this natural attenuation process that an environmental biotechnology, bioremediation has developed steadily over the past 50 years based on this natural biodegradation process. Linking next-generation sequencing with the microbial functional analysis is identified as an important prerequisite for understanding the capacity of microbial consortia to decontaminate petrogenic hydrocarbons at varying sites
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