The ability of fungal species to produce a wide range of enzymes and metabolites, which act synergistically, makes them valuable tools in bioremediation, especially in the removal of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) from contaminated environments. PhACs are compounds that have been specifically designed to treat or alter animal physiological conditions and they include antibiotics, analgesics, hormones, and steroids. Their detrimental effects on all life forms have become a source of public outcry due their persistent nature and their uncontrolled discharge into various wastewater effluents, hospital effluents, and surface waters. Studies have however shown that fungi have the necessary metabolic machinery to degrade PhACs in complex environments, such as soil and water, in addition they can be utilized in bioreactor systems to remove PhACs. In this regard, this review highlights fungal species with immense potential in the biodegradation of PhACs, their enzymatic arsenal as well as the probable mechanism of biodegradation. The challenges encumbering the real-time application of this promising bioremediative approach are also highlighted, as well as the areas of improvement and future perspective. In all, this paper points researchers to the fact that fungal bioremediation is a promising strategy for addressing the growing issue of pharmaceutical contamination in the environment and can help to mitigate the negative impacts on ecosystems and human health.

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) contains large quantities of organic matter in the form of total suspended solids (TSS), volatile suspended solids (VSS), total solids (TS), oil and grease (O & G) that increase biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) of POME if left untreated. The main aim of the present study was to investigate the ability of bacterial strains either pure (individually) or mixed (combinations), to degrade and metabolize organic load from palm oil mill effluent. Sequencing of the 16S rRNA of the isolates suggests that they were identified as Micrococcus luteus 101 PB, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia 102 PB, Bacillus cereus 103 PB, Providencia vermicola 104 PB, Klebsiella pneumoniae 105 PB and Bacillus subtilis 106 PB. The use of mixed cultures in the present study showed more extensive removal of organic load (COD and BOD) than pure single cultures. Mixed cultures were found to reduce the pollutant dynamically. Thus, the mixed cultures C₁ (Bacillus cereus 103 PB and Bacillus subtilis 106 PB) were the most effective bacterial combination for use in biological treatment technology of POME having the highest COD and BOD reduction rate. C₁ produced the highest degradative activity in reducing COD (90.64 %) and BOD (93.11 %). The indigenous microbial isolates from POME were observed to possess potential to degrade organic components whereas the use of mixed cultures resulted in more extensive degradation of COD and BOD than pure single cultures. This suggests that mixed culture of bacteria in the present study can be used for bioremediation of environment contaminated with polluted wastewaters. This study, however, indicates the prospect of isolating indigenous microorganisms in the POME for effective biotreatment of POME.

Pesticide treatment dramatically reduces crop loss and enhances agricultural productivity, promoting global food security and economic growth. However, owing to high accrual and persistent tendency, pesticides could create significant ecological consequences when used often. Lately, the perspective has transitioned to implementing biological material, environmentally sustainable, and economical strategies via bioremediation approaches to eradicate pesticides contaminations. Microalgae were regarded as a prominent option for the detoxification of such hazardous contaminants. Sustainable application and remediation strategies of pesticides pollutants in the agriculture system by microalgae from the past studies, and recent advancements were integrated into this review. Bibliometric strategies to enhance the research advancements in pesticide bioremediation by microalgae between 2010 and 2020 were implemented through critical comparative analysis of documents from Scopus and PubMed databases. As a result, this study identified a growing annual research trend from 1994 to 2020 (nScopus > nPubMed). Global production of pesticide remediation by microalgae demonstrated significant contributions from India (23.8%) and China (16.7%). The author’s keyword clustering was visualized using bibliometric software (VOSviewer), which revealed the strongest network formed by “microalgae”, “bioremediation”, “biodegradation”, “cyanobacteria”, “wastewater”, and “pesticide” as significant to the research topic. Hence, this bibliometric review will facilitate the future roadmap for many scholars and authors who were drawing attention to the burgeoning research on bioremediation of pesticides to counteract environmental impacts while maintaining food sustainability.

Recently, the contribution of earthworms to plastic degradation and their capability to swallow smaller plastic fragments, known as microplastics, has been emphasized. The worm physically changes the size of microplastics and enhances microbial activities to increase the possibility of degradation. However, no research has shown that earthworms can chemically degrade microplastics to an element form, CO₂ or H₂O. In this review, previous research has been thoroughly explored to analyse the role that earthworms could play in plastic degradation in the soil. Earthworms can significantly affect the physical characteristics of plastics. However, earthworms’ abilities to chemically degrade or change the chemical structure of plastics and microplastics have not been observed. Additionally, earthworms exhibit selective feeding behaviour, avoiding areas containing a high plastics concentration and rejecting plastics. Consequently, earthworms’ abilities to adapt to the microplastics in soil in the environment can cause a problem. Based on this review, the challenges faced in earthworm application for plastic degradation are mostly expected to be associated with the toxicity and complexity of the plastic material and environmental factors, such as the moisture content of the soil and its temperature, microbial population, and feeding method.

The present study deals with the isolation, identification, and characterization of the cadmium resistant bacteria from wastewater collected from industrial area of Penang, Malaysia. The isolate was selected based on high level of the cadmium and antibiotic resistances. On the basis of morphological, biochemical characteristics, 16S rDNA gene sequencing and phylogeny analysis revealed that the strain RZCd1 was authentically identified as Pseudomonas sp. M3. The industrial isolate showed more than 70% of the cadmium removal in log phase. The cadmium removal capacity of strain RZCd1 was affected by temperature and pH. At pH 7.0 and 35°C, strain RZCd1 showed maximum cadmium removal capacity. The minimal inhibitory concentration of strain RZCd1 against the cadmium was 550 µg/mL. The resistance against the cadmium was associated with resistance to multiple antibiotics: amoxicillin, penicillin, cephalexin, erythromycin, and streptomycin. The strain RZCd1 also gave thick bands of proteins in front of 25 kDa in cadmium stress condition after 3 h of incubation. So the identified cadmium resistant bacteria may be useful for the bioremediation of cadmium contaminated industrial wastewater.