About this Research Topic
Chemical pesticides are any substances or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any insects, weeds and plant pathogens. Although pesticides play a key role in the protection of crop yields, their excessive and persistent use resulted in serious soil pollution and deteriorated soil quality. In addition, pesticides contamination of soil may come from manufacturing, improper storage or disposal of pesticides waste. Residues of pesticides have been reported in soil, water, food, milk, or fish in numerous countries around the world and their impacts on the environment attracts attention of the researchers and the public.
Microbial catabolism is a major pathway of pesticide mitigation in the environment. To this day, a number of microorganisms capable of degrading various pesticides have been isolated. Based on these findings, we are able to predict pesticide metabolic pathways and characterize genes and enzymes involved in pesticides catabolism.
Bioremediation, the treatment that uses living organisms to transform hazardous substances into lesser or not-toxic compounds, is an effective way to clean up the soil polluted with chemical pesticides. Although there has been research concerning the use of degrading microbial cells for such a bioremediation, there is a limited number of studies on the microbial mechanisms involved. In particular, the ecological behavior of microbes degrading the chemical pesticides, including their survival dynamics, their interaction with soil indigenous microorganisms, and their response to the pesticide substrates, remain poorly understood. The effect of different environmental factors on the degradation, leading to the instability of the bioremediation efficiency in the soil environment, also needs further investigation.
This Research Topic aims to provide an appropriate platform to publish the original articles or reviews concerning the bioremediation of chemical pesticides polluted soil. The themes include, but are not restricted to:
• Mechanisms of bioremediation of soil contaminated with chemical pesticides by the introduction of a single strain or consortia of microorganisms with desired catalytic capabilities.
• Mechanistical impact on the structure of soil indigenous microbial communities once the degrading strains have been inoculated, and the involvement of the indigenous microbial communities in the degradation of chemical pesticides.
• Ecological behavior of introduced degrading microorganisms to track the functional genes and their expression in the environment during bioremediation, analysis of gene regulation and how this could be used to enhance microbial biodegradation of chemical pesticides in the soil.
• The characterization of rhizospheric microorganisms involved in biodegradation of chemical pesticides and developing their use in bioremediation.
• Further stimulation of microbial communities.
• Diversity of aerobic and anaerobic processes involved in the degradation and transformation of chemical pesticides in the soil.
Merely descriptive or screening manuscripts will be considered out of scope.
Microbial catabolism is a major pathway of pesticide mitigation in the environment. To this day, a number of microorganisms capable of degrading various pesticides have been isolated. Based on these findings, we are able to predict pesticide metabolic pathways and characterize genes and enzymes involved in pesticides catabolism.
Bioremediation, the treatment that uses living organisms to transform hazardous substances into lesser or not-toxic compounds, is an effective way to clean up the soil polluted with chemical pesticides. Although there has been research concerning the use of degrading microbial cells for such a bioremediation, there is a limited number of studies on the microbial mechanisms involved. In particular, the ecological behavior of microbes degrading the chemical pesticides, including their survival dynamics, their interaction with soil indigenous microorganisms, and their response to the pesticide substrates, remain poorly understood. The effect of different environmental factors on the degradation, leading to the instability of the bioremediation efficiency in the soil environment, also needs further investigation.
This Research Topic aims to provide an appropriate platform to publish the original articles or reviews concerning the bioremediation of chemical pesticides polluted soil. The themes include, but are not restricted to:
• Mechanisms of bioremediation of soil contaminated with chemical pesticides by the introduction of a single strain or consortia of microorganisms with desired catalytic capabilities.
• Mechanistical impact on the structure of soil indigenous microbial communities once the degrading strains have been inoculated, and the involvement of the indigenous microbial communities in the degradation of chemical pesticides.
• Ecological behavior of introduced degrading microorganisms to track the functional genes and their expression in the environment during bioremediation, analysis of gene regulation and how this could be used to enhance microbial biodegradation of chemical pesticides in the soil.
• The characterization of rhizospheric microorganisms involved in biodegradation of chemical pesticides and developing their use in bioremediation.
• Further stimulation of microbial communities.
• Diversity of aerobic and anaerobic processes involved in the degradation and transformation of chemical pesticides in the soil.
Merely descriptive or screening manuscripts will be considered out of scope.
Keywords: Chemical pesticides, Bioremediation, Biodegradation, Indigenous microorganisms, Microbial communities
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
