Harnessing Microbial Processes to Tackle Recalcitrant Pollutants in the Environment

The widespread occurrence of recalcitrant and persistent pollutants in natural and engineered environments represents a significant global challenge for environmental sustainability and human health. Compounds such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), pharmaceuticals, pesticides, industrial chemicals, dyes, and microplastic-associated contaminants are being increasingly detected in water, soil, and sediments, often persisting due to their resistance to conventional treatment processes. Microbial processes offer promising and sustainable solutions to mitigate the environmental burden of these contaminants through natural attenuation, biodegradation, and biotransformation mechanisms.This Research Topic aims to highlight recent advances in understanding and harnessing microbial processes to address recalcitrant pollutants in diverse environmental settings. Contributions elucidating microbial pathways and communities involved in the degradation of persistent contaminants are particularly encouraged, including studies that explore aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation, cometabolism, syntrophic interactions, and the development or engineering of microbial consortia. Research leveraging omics and systems biology approaches to unravel biodegradation mechanisms, pollutant transformation pathways, and microbial community dynamics is also welcomed.This Research Topic encompasses a wide range of manuscript types, including original research articles, reviews, and case studies, that address the removal, transformation, and monitoring of persistent environmental pollutants using microbial approaches. Scope includes but is not limited to: identification and characterization of novel microbial degraders; optimization of bioremediation strategies in laboratory and field contexts; evaluation of bioprocess performance under environmentally relevant conditions; elucidation of pollutant-microbe interactions; integration of multi-omics and bioinformatics tools for pathway discovery; and innovative biotechnological or bioaugmentation solutions for contaminant removal. Manuscripts reporting advances in model development, pilot-scale and real-world applications, or policy and regulatory considerations related to bioremediation of recalcitrant pollutants are also encouraged.This collection has been Crosslisted with the Microbiotechnology section of Frontiers in Microbiology. Please note that Microbiotechnology does not consider descriptive studies that are solely based on amplicon (e.g., 16S rRNA) profiles or comparisons of nucleic acid extracts (e.g., metagenomics), unless they are accompanied by a clear hypothesis and experimentation and provide insight into the microbiological system or process being studied. Topic editors: Catarina L. Amorim, Mariusz Cycoń, Ramani Kandasamy Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/79820/harnessing-microbial-processes-to-tackle-recalcitrant-pollutants-in-the-environment