Recent progress in metal-microbe interactions: Prospects in bioremediation

Abstract

Heavy metal contamination due to natural and anthropogenic source is a major environmental problem. Release of metal from use of agrochemicals, industrial effluents and wastewater residues and their accumulation in food causes serious dilemma to animal and human health concern. On the other hand microbial population gets affected from metal toxicity at elevated concentration. With the result microbes develops various resistance mechanism to cope with metal toxicity. Both physiological and genetic mechanisms are involved in developing such resistance. Recent advances on metal-bacteria interaction has led to better understanding of metal accumulation/detoxification or biotransformation and bioremediation of metals through application of such bacteria. Role of various transport protein families involved in heavy metal metabolism are now explored. This article provides insights of metal-bacteria interaction in terms of resistance mechanisms and role of various transport proteins and its potential application in bioremediation of metal pollution.