Overview of Soil Xenobiotics and their Biological Remediation Strategies

Abstract

Xenobiotic pollution of the environment is a global phenomenon brought on by human activity as a result of increased urbanisation and population expansion. Pesticides, petrol, solvents, alkanes, polycyclic hydrocarbons (PAHs), antibiotics, artificial azo dyes, pollutants (polychlorinated biphenyls and dioxins), and polyaromatic, chlorinated, and nitroaromatic substances are examples of xenobiotics. Xenobiotics are primarily defined as substances that are foreign to a living thing and have an inclination to collect in the environment,where they can be harmful for existing ecosystem. The natural environment is impacted in a number of ways, both short- and long-term, when these dangerous contaminants are released. The scientific study of xenobiotic compound biodegradation—which uses microorganisms' catabolic powers to break down poisonous and hazardous xenobiotics—has received a lot of attention in the last few decades. Numerous bacteria possessing remarkable capacity for biodegrading xenobiotic substances have been identified, and their novel degradation routes have been clarified. The field of molecular approach to biodegradation research is fairly young. Therefore, in order to create efficient and environmentally beneficial "green" technology, it is imperative to investigate the microbial biodiversity.