Microbiological Aspects of Pesticide Remediation

Pesticides are synthetic compounds being used to mitigate different types of pests including insects, weeds, rodents, mites, etc. Growing use of pesticides especially for agricultural purposes has led to soil contamination deteriorating its quality. Persistence of these compounds and their travelling in the environment due to runoff, leaching, or vaporization results in air and water pollution. Pesticides pose detrimental hazards to ecosystem functioning and health of living organisms by accumulation and magnification in the food chain. Due to these threats, degradation of such harmful compounds is of great importance. Remediation of pesticides by physical and chemical methods exhibits various limitations that make them less suitable for this purpose. Bioremediation is an alternative technique to treat pesticides in an economically feasible and environmentally safe way. Use of microbes is a sustainable approach to decontaminate the pesticides due to their natural ability to degrade complex pollutants. Microbial enzymes and metabolic pathways are responsible for different mechanisms leading to complete or partial mineralization of pesticides. Importance of microbes and the mechanisms involving enzymes associated with pesticide remediation have been discussed in this chapter. Techniques to enhance the biodegradation rate and genetics involved in microbial degradation of pesticides have also been briefly explained. Various methods like nanobioremediation, genetic engineering, and immobilization can significantly enhance biodegradation of pesticide by microbes.