What is the importance of microorganisms for reduction of environmental pollution and use of microorganisms in environmental remediation?
Microorganisms play a crucial role in the environment and can have both beneficial and detrimental effects. While some microorganisms have the ability to contribute to environmental remediation by removing pollutants or contaminants from the environment. It is important to note that not all microorganisms possess this capability. The potential of microorganisms to clean up pollutants depends on their specific characteristics and metabolic capabilities. For instance, certain microorganisms have the ability to degrade organic compounds, such as oil spills or industrial pollutants, through a process known as bioremediation. These microorganisms break down the pollutants into less harmful substances, aiding in the restoration of polluted environments. Additionally, microorganisms are involved in nutrient cycling, decomposition of organic matter, and soil fertility, which are essential processes for maintaining the health of ecosystems.
The microbes simply eat up contaminants such as oil and organic matter, convert them and then let off carbon dioxide and water. The process uses naturally occurring bacteria, fungi or plants to degrade substances that are hazardous to human health or the environment. Microorganisms are utilized in bioremediation because of their ability to degrade environmental pollutants due to their metabolism via biochemical pathways related to the organisms’ activity and growth. Microbes help to break down organic matter from plants, animals, and other microbes. They are involved with the nitrogen and carbon cycles. Microorganisms help to generate oxygen and carbon dioxide, as well as fix atmospheric nitrogen into useable forms for multiple organisms. Microorganisms play critical roles in Earth's biogeochemical cycles as they are responsible for decomposition and nitrogen fixation. Bacteria use regulatory networks that allow them to adapt to almost every environmental niche on earth. Microorganisms help in organic matter decomposition, humus formation. The important role of microorganisms includes – Nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilisation, potassium mobilization, antagonism towards pathogens, pests. Hence, the role of microorganisms in agriculture is indispensable.Bioremediation involves using biological agents such as plants and microbes to remove or lessen the effects of environmental pollutants. Of the two, microbes are more utilized primarily because of their rapid growth and ability to be easily manipulated, thus enhancing their function as agents of bioremediation. Bioremediation can be achieved with the use of microorganisms (microbial bioremediation) which depends on the metabolic potential of the microorganisms to degrade environmental pollutants and change them to innocuous forms through redox processes. Microorganisms degrade toxic pollutants into harmless substances to solve environmental issues like pollution. Both aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms use these substances to obtain energy to perform their physiological roles.