Cadmium, a malleable heavy metal found in zinc ore, can pollute the groundwater and soil by various natural as well as anthropogenic means and enter different trophic levels. Several physical separation and chemical methods have been used to reduce cadmium contamination and to maintain biosafety. These methods are slow, cost- and time-intensive, and also generate toxic by-products. Phytoremediation has emerged as a sustainable and inexpensive mode to eliminate heavy metals via diverse mechanisms such as phytoextraction, phytostabilization, rhizofiltration, and phytovolatilization. Several reports are available for the pollutants' exclusion from contaminated resources using plants such as Ceratophyllum demersum, Phragmites australis, Hydrangea macrophylla, and Iris pseudacorus, etc. The approach is promising in removing a huge amount of pollutants and retaining it for a longer period. However, it also suffers from issues such as post-treatment valorization of biomass and a slow operation process. Overall, the phytoremediation approach can be considered as safer and sustainable process to eliminate the heavy metals such as cadmium not only at lab scale but also at industry or commercial scale, which is clear with pilot-scale trials. Integration of artificial intelligence/machine learning and nano-phytoremediation approaches further improves the efficiency. The purpose of this article is to summarize the recent advancements in phytoremediation for cadmium removal, application of plants, and integration of nanomaterials and AI-ML models in commercialization of the treatment process.

Thisi review examines the possibility of soilless cultivation systems as a means of overcoming resource scarcity in many places of the world, such as good soil and clean water. The conventional usage of arable land is becoming more difficult, especially in light of climate change. Soilless farming systems not only allow you to save water and grow plants without soil, but they also allow you to grow food in urban locations, such as residential rooftops, near to where people dine. The review compares the uses of soilless farming systems to those of conventional farming.i It examines economic viability, sustainability, and current events in this field. The review discusses three major soilless farming systems: hydroponics, aquaponics, and vertical farming. In terms of how they affect the environment, these systems are distinguished from one another and compared to conventional cultivation techniques to the maximum extent possible. In order to set the framework for future research and practical applications, the review compares published data on the yield of hydroponic cultivation systems with soil-based cultivation methods. This research provides an overview of how profitable each strategy is. The review also compares the sustainability of the most major neutral substrates used in hydroponics to highlight their environmental effects and assist future projects in selecting the appropriate substrate. The review examines the major soilless cultivation systems and discusses the difficulties and improvements to current approaches. It seeks to provide a comprehensive image of soilless farming systems so that further research may be conducted and they can be deployed in the actual world in the future.

Rapid utilization of natural resources and other anthropogenic activities intruded heavy metals into the food chain and raised alarming concern for all life forms. The available methods proved insufficient in handling waste and pollutants due to the high cost and generation of toxic residues. Bioremediation strategies have offered sustainable solutions for toxic pollutants. In the current study, cadmium and lead (Cd and Pb respectively) tolerant strains have been isolated from industrial effluent and characterized for tolerance towards target pollutants. The strain was identified by 16s rRNA gene and further used for metal removal from the industrial effluents. Bacterial isolates were obtained from industrial discharge and evaluated for their tolerance towards Cd and Pb. AS-1 bacterial isolate exhibited maximum tolerance towards both the metals and hence was selected for further study. The isolate was identified as Staphylococcus epidermidis. ICP-MS and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis of biomass revealed that a significant proportion of cadmium (90.89

Soil is widely acknowledged as the optimal medium for promoting plant growth. Besides providing physical support to plants, soil serves as a source of nutrients. However, several factors can hinder plant growth, including the presence of disease-causing microorganisms, depletion of soil fertility, erosion of topsoil, and inadequate soil drainage. Additionally, challenges such as the availability of abundant water resources, a larger land area for cultivation practices, and an adequate labor force pose difficulties for crop production in conventional agricultural fields. The situation becomes even more challenging in urban areas where space for cultivation is limited. Moreover, variations in geographic and topographic factors further restrict the availability of suitable land for cultivation. Consequently, soilless cultivation methods, such as hydroponics, have emerged as a promising solution.

Rapid industrialization, mining, and other anthropogenic activities have poisoned our environment with heavy metals, negatively impacting all forms of life. Heavy metal pollution causes physiological and neurological disorders, as heavy metals are endocrine disrupters, carcinogenic, and teratogenic. Therefore, it becomes mandatory to address the challenge of heavy metal contamination on a global scale. Physical and chemical approaches have been employed for pollutant removal and detoxification, but these methods cannot be adopted universally due to high cost, labor intensiveness, and possible negative impact on natural microflora. Phytoremediation is one of the preferred and safest approaches for environmental management due to its high efficiency and low cost of investment. The plant can uptake the pollutants and heavy metals from water and soil through an intense root network via rhizofiltration and process via phytostabilization, phytovolatilization, and accumulation. At a cellular level, the phytoremediation process relies on natural mechanisms of plant cells, e.g., absorption, transpiration, intracellular storage, and accumulation to counter the detrimental effects of pollutants. It is widely accepted because of its novelty, low cost, and high efficiency; however, the process is comparatively slower. In addition, plants can store pollutants for a long time but again become a challenge at the end of the life cycle. The current review summarizes phytoremediation as a potential cure for heavy metal pollutants, released from natural as well as anthropogenic sources. It will provide insight into the advancement and evolution of advanced techniques like nanoremediation that can improve the rate of phytoremediation, along with making it sustainable, cost-effective, and economically viable.

The buildup of heavy metals in soil has increased fast as a result of both natural and anthropogenic (industrial) causes. Because they do not break down via natural processes, heavy metals can build up in the environment, infiltrate the food chain via crop plants, and even biomagnify to dangerous levels inside the human body. Due to their toxicity, heavy metal contamination has become a major problem for human health and the environment. Hence, cleaning up polluted soil is critical. Eco-friendly phytoremediation has the potential to be an efficient mitigation method for reforesting heavy metal-polluted soil at a low cost. Increasing our knowledge of the processes that lead to plant heavy metal accumulation and tolerance is crucial for enhancing the efficacy of phytoremediation. The methods through which plants take in, translocate, and detoxify heavy metals are reported in this chapter. The use of genetic engineering, microbe-assisted, and chelate-assisted techniques, as well as others, to increase the effectiveness of phytostabilization and phytoextraction are the main topics of discussion.

The biggest problem at present in the globe is environmental pollution, which affects air, water, and soil all equally. Heavy metal pollution is a rigorous problem which requires careful consideration. Lead (Pb+2) is a toxic heavy metal do not have essential function in human being cause, severe health issue in human and animal. When lead enters and accumulates in our bodies through a variety of pathways, lead poisoning occurs. Lead primarily affects the children of lower age. The main sources of lead pollution are Lead-based paints, batteries, car repair shops, lead-contaminated dust in older buildings, transportation, electrical devices, computers, etc. Lead pollution of soils is now a major problem that necessitates the establishment of innovative, environmentally friendly treatment methods. Due to less effectiveness, expensive of physiochemical process, biological remediation of leads the choice of treatment. Lead is potentially removed by many microorganisms including bacteria, fungi, algae, cyanobacteria and actinomyces. Bio-sorption, bio-accumulation, bio-precipitation, bio-mineralization, and sequestration are the main mechanisms involved in lead bioremediation.

Selenium is an essential trace element inevitably present in almost all the soils. It exists in the various chemical forms at a particular site due to the various features such as pH, organic matter, concentration of cations and anions of the site. An excessive concentration of selenium has been reported in various regions of Punjab. The present research has explicated the mobility of selenium by indigenous bacterial strains isolated from seleniferous soil of Punjab, India. Physiochemical characterization of the soil sample indicated alkaline nature which in turns favors the existence and mobility of selenium oxyanions in the soil. A significant concentration of selenium (2.652 mu g/g) has been reported in the soil sample. Total four bacterial strains were isolated from the soil based on their growth in selenium oxyanions supplemented medium. Bacterial isolate SGB-5 was explored for selenium sequestration and transformation studies on the basis of tolerance to selenium oxyanions especially selenate. ICP-MS analysis of biomass indicated significant sequestration of selenium (upto 70%) by the isolate SGB-5. X-ray diffraction spectrum of biomass associated selenium revealed the reduced and crystalline nature of selenium in the biomass. SEM-EDX analysis further confirmed the accumulation of nano-sized elemental selenium around the bacterial cells. Further SGB-5 strain was characterized and identified as Bacillus sp. using 16S rRNA gene sequencing.

Natural and anthropogenic activities lead to the degradation of the environment. Exposure to certain natural and xenobiotic compounds has resulted in adverse impact on the health of both environment and living beings. Heavy metals and metalloids are the natural constituents of an ecosystem, which enter the food chain due to global industrialization and various geochemical processes. Even a slight increase in the concentration of these nondegradable contaminants poses a serious threat to organisms. Although a number of physicochemical methods have been proposed and implemented for the remediation of these contaminants in different sites, due to some inherited limitations, these methods remain ineffective and uneconomical. Biological systems, especially microorganisms, find their wide applicability in the bioremediation of heavy metals with different modifications such as bioventing, biosparging, bioaugmentation, and biofiltration. A number of different microorganisms belonging to different groups, such as bacteria, fungi, yeast, and actinomycetes, have been reported in the literature for remediation of these inorganic pollutants. Nowadays, genetic engineering has been exploited for the remediation of these toxic contaminants with the development of genetically engineered microorganisms. These organisms show substantial potential toward remediation using different genetic approaches, such as alteration of enzyme specificity, construction of new pathways, and improvement in bioprocess, along with the use of technology.

Milk is one of the utmost reasonable foundations of much nutrition like proteins and vitamins. The quality of milk is resolute by facets of composition and hygiene. Due to its compound biochemical structure and high water activity milk aids as an outstanding culture medium for the growth and multiplication of numerous kinds of microorganisms. Consequently in the processing of milk, some of them may produce unwanted effects and some microorganisms yield food infections which either transmits pathogens that will upsurge the likelihood of infection of the consumer’s food. Milk is a foremost part of human food and plays protuberant role in one’s diet. The adulteration of milk is mainly due to human feature and unhygienic conditions. Typically milk is polluted with diverse types of microorganisms at milk gathering places. The microbial superiority of raw milk is vital for the fabrication of excellence dairy products. There can be deterioration in milk’s quality, colour, odour or flavour to a point where it is improper for human consumption. Pathogenic micro-organism in milk comprises E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium, Microbacterium, Micrococcus and Streptococcus. The samples were collected from Vellore area. All the samples positive for altered microbial contaminations were established using biochemical examinations. The cultural features of the isolates were established by inoculating the pure colonies on nutrient agar, mannitol salt agar and using methylene blue agar and other biochemical tests such as Simmon’s citrate agar, indole production, methyl red, VP test and coagulase test were made to confirm the occurrence of diverse microorganisms. In this way the occurrence and absence of numerous microorganisms was recognized. However a large volume of these products were produced in unorganised sector with little precautions of food safety and quality.

Background This study was carried out to isolate and characterize the bacterial strains from lindane-contaminated soil and they were also assessed for their lindane-degrading potential. Methods In this study the enrichment culture method was used for isolation of lindane degrading bacterial isolates, in which the mineral salt medium (MSM) supplemented with different concentrations of lindane was used. Further, the screening for the potential lindane degrading isolates was done using the spray plate method and colorimetric dechlorinase enzyme assay. The selected isolates were also studied for their growth response under varying range of temperature, pH, and NaCl. The finally selected isolates DAB-1Y and DAB-1W showing best lindane degradation activity was further subjected to biochemical characterization, microscopy, degradation/kinetic study, and 16S rDNA sequencing. The strain identification were performed using the biochemical characterization, microscopy and the species identifies by 16S rDNA sequence of the two isolates using the standard 16S primers, the 16 S rRNA partial sequence was analyzed through BLAST analysis and phylogenetic tree was generated based on UGPMA clustering method using MEGA7 software. This shows the phylogenetic relationship with the related strains. The two isolates of this study were finally characterized as Kocuria sp. DAB-1Y and Staphylococcus sp. DAB-1W, and their 16S rRNA sequence was submitted to GenBank database with accession numbers, KJ811539 and KX986577, respectively. Results Out of the 20 isolates, the isolates DAB-1Y and DAB-1W exhibited best lindane-degrading activity of 94 and 98%, respectively, recorded after 8 days of incubation. The optimum growth was observed at temperature 30 °C, pH 7, and 5% NaCl observed for both isolates. Of the four isomers of hexachlorocyclohexane, isomer α and γ were the fastest degrading isomers, which were degraded up to 86 and 94% by isolates DAB-1Y and up to 93 and 98% by DAB-1W, respectively, reported after 8 days incubation. Isomer β was highly recalcitrant in which maximum 35 and 32% lindane degradation was observed even after 28 days incubation by isolates, DAB-1Y and DAB-1W, respectively. At lower lindane concentrations (1–10 mg/L), specific growth rate increased with increase in lindane concentration, maximum being 0.008 and 0.006/day for DAB-1Y and DAB-1W, respectively. The 16 S rRNA partial sequence of isolate DAB-1Y showed similarity with Kocuria sp. by BLAST analysis and was named as Kocuria sp. DAB-1Y and DAB-IW with Staphylococcus sp. DAB-1W. The 16S rDNA sequence of isolate DAB-1Y and DAB-1W was submitted to online at National Centre of Biotechnology Information (NCBI) with GenBank accession numbers, KJ811539 and KX986577, respectively. Conclusions This study has demonstrated that Kocuria sp. DAB-1Y and Staphylococcus sp. DAB-1W were found efficient in bioremediation of gamma-HCH and can be utilized further for biodegradation of environmental contamination of lindane and can be utilized in bioremediation program.

Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal that is easily accumulated in the living organisms in connection with anthropogenic activities which may result in serious health problems. In the present study, five potential cadmium tolerant bacterial strains were isolated from industrial effluent with heavy metal contamination and were screened for biosorption potential with their active growth in different media. After growth in shake flasks containing mineral salt media and tryptone soya broth, cell pellet of AS-5 removed by centrifugation sequestered almost 98% and 69% of cadmium (a.i. 25 mg/l Cd) respectively. Other strains accumulated variable amounts of Cd. 16S rRNA gene sequence of AS-5 and its homology analysis using BLAST reveals its phylogenetic relationship with family β-proteobacteriaceae and 98% homology with Alcaligenes sp., a facultative anaerobe.