Bio- and phytoremediation, being encouraging terms implying the use of biological systems for cleansing purposes, have risen a worthy venture toward environmental restoration in discouraging scenarios, such as the augmentation of indestructible heavy metals. Hyperaccumulating plants and heavy metal resistant microbes own mechanisms embedded in their metabolism, proteins, and genes that confer them with “super characteristics” allowing them to assimilate heavy metals in order to amend polluted soils, and when combined in a symbiotic system, these super features could complement each other and be enhanced to overpower the exposure to toxic environments. Though xenobiotic pollution has been an object of concern for decades and physicochemical procedures are commonly carried out to offset this purpose, a “live” remediation is rather chosen and looked upon for promising results. A variety of benefits have been registered from symbiotic relationships, including plants teaming up with microbes to cope down with non-biodegradable elements such as heavy metals; but a carefully maneuvered interaction might signify a greater insight toward the application of bioremediation systems. These manipulations could consist of genetic engineering and/or additional supplementation of molecules and microbes. In the present study, a contemporary connection between plants and microbes involving their controlled management is summarized in a visionary display.

Capsicum is one of the most economically important genera in the Solanaceae family. Capsicum fruits (peppers) are rich in phytochemicals with high nutritional value and significant health-promoting characteristics. The phytochemical profile of peppers consists of capsaicinoids, carotenoids, and phenolics, primarily. Currently, most of the pepper production is carried out under protected horticulture conditions. The objective of this article was to provide a comprehensive review on how light characteristics and manipulation by different horticultural technologies can affect the biosynthesis and accumulation of phytochemicals in Capsicum fruits. The use of shade nets or plastic covers to reduce light intensity does not seem to yield consistent responses on the phytochemical profile, as the final profile results from the interaction of several factors. Other factors involved in the accumulation of phytochemicals include temperature, water availability and plant nutrition. Exposure of plants to supplemental light with specific wavelengths (using LEDs) seems to result in a more precise stimulation of specific metabolites. In this article, we examine the effects of light irradiance and spectrum on the specific phytochemicals of Capsicum fruits.

Bacillus megaterium MNSH1-9K-1 and Microbacterium liquefaciens MNSH2-PHGII-2, 2 nickel- and vanadium-resistant bacteria from mine tailings located in Guanajuato, Mexico, are shown to have the ability to remove 33.1% and 17.8% of Ni, respectively, and 50.8% and 14.0% of V, respectively, from spent petrochemical catalysts containing 428 ± 30 mg·kg⁻¹ Ni and 2165 ± 77 mg·kg⁻¹ V. In these strains, several Ni resistance determinants were detected by conventional PCR. The nccA (nickel–cobalt–cadmium resistance) was found for the first time in B. megaterium. In M. liquefaciens, the above gene as well as the czcD gene (cobalt–zinc–cadmium resistance) and a high-affinity nickel transporter were detected for the first time. This study characterizes the resistance of M. liquefaciens and B. megaterium to Ni through the expression of genes conferring metal resistance.

The present study evaluated 15 isolates obtained of environmental samples capable of tolerating high Ni and V concentrations. Those coded as MNSH2-PHGII-1, MNSH2-PHGII-2 and MV-PHGII-2 showed a minimum inhibitory concentration higher than 200 ppm for Ni and V and showed removal percentages corresponding to 84, 75 and 26% for Ni and 60, 55 and 20.3% for V, respectively, in liquid medium. When spent catalyst was added at 16% (w/v) pulp density, the highest Ni and V removal corresponded to MNSH2-PHGII-1 and MNSH2-PHGII-2, which were identified as Microbacterium oxydans and Microbacterium liquefaciens respectively, Microbacterium oxydans was able to remove Ni at the extent of 45.4% and V at 30.4% while Microbacterium liquefaciens removed Ni at 51% and V at 41.4% from the spent catalyst. The isolate MV-PHGII-2 identified also as Microbacterium oxydans showed the lowest removal for Ni and V corresponding to 16% and 9.5%, respectively. This is the first report where strains of Microbacterium were tested for their abilities to remove Ni and V from spent catalyst, suggesting its potential use in the treatment of this solid industrial waste.