Marine Bacterial Biofilm in Bioremediation of Organic and Inorganic Pollutants

Abstract

Increasing industrialization and unsustainable use of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and toxic metals poses serious environmental pollution. Marine environment serves as the highly dynamic milieu and the inhabitant microbes possess de-novo potential in bioremediation. Use of biofilm-EPS (extracellular polymeric substances) forming microorganisms from marine microbiota have enormous metabolic potential for environmental clean-up. Many biofilm forming marine bacteria; Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Stenotrophomonas, Alcaligenes, Escherichia, Vibrio and Ochrobactrum have been isolated and characterized from Bay of Bengal, Odisha, India. These isolates tolerate substantial level of PAHs (naphthalene, phenanthrene and pyrene) and toxic metals (Hg and Cd).