Role of Indigenous Microbial Community in Bioremediation

Abstract

The tremendous increase in environmental pollution in the last few decades has gained considerable attention. Physicochemical methods used for environmental remediation have various associated problems; hence, the use of biological methods, especially the use of microorganisms, has gained importance. Microorganisms from exogenous sources face various challenges when applied at various sites for environmental remediation, whereas indigenous microbial communities have great potential to treat a wide range of pollutants due to their high adaptability and plasticity. Indigenous microbial communities are tolerant to the environmental conditions of their habitat due to their adaptability, degradation capability, and inherent plasticity. Indigenous microorganisms are highly compatible with the physicochemical parameters of contaminated sites and are most suitable to be used for the bioremediation of pollutants as compared to exogenous microorganisms. Therefore, this chapter focuses on the role of indigenous microbial communities in environmental remediation. Although indigenous microbial communities are the preferred option for environmental treatment, real-time application has certain challenges such as unavailability of nutrients, the presence of multiple pollutants, low number of active microbes, and extreme surrounding conditions. This chapter also highlights the challenges associated with the use of indigenous microbial community for environmental remediation and suggests future prospects for using the indigenous microbial community for environment remediation by addressing the challenges associated with it. The in-depth knowledge of the microbial response to pollutants under different environmental conditions can be utilized to develop specific microbial communities that can efficiently remediate the polluted site. Also, techniques such as biostimulation and bioaugmentation can be adopted to further enhance the bioremediation efficacy of the indigenous microbial communities.