Bioremediation of heavy metals from industrial effluents by endophytes and their metabolic activity: Recent advances

Worldwide, heavy metals pollution is mostly caused by rapid population growth and industrial development which is accumulated in food webs causing a serious public health risk. Endophytic microorganisms have a variety of mechanisms for metal sequestration having metal biosorption capacities. Endophytic organisms like bacteria and fungi provide beneficial qualities that help plants to improve their health, reduce stress, and detoxify metals. Endophytes have a higher proclivity for improving metal and mineral solubility by cells that secrete low-molecular-weight organic acids and metal-specific ligands like siderophores, which change the pH of the soil and improve binding activity. Protein-related approaches like chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-Seq) and modified enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA test) can represent endophytic bacterial community and DNA-protein interactions during metal reduction. This review explored the role of endophytes in bioremediation approaches that can help in analyzing the potential and prospects in response to industrial effluents' detoxification.

Automated summary

Endophytic microorganisms play a crucial role in heavy metal pollution environments, assisting plants in improving health, reducing stress, and detoxifying metals through various mechanisms and metal sequestration abilities. By secreting organic acids and metal ligands to change soil pH and improve binding activity, endophytes enhance metal and mineral solubility.