Proteomics and metabolomics: The molecular make-up of toxic aromatic pollutant bioremediation

Microbial-mediated attenuation of toxic aromatic pollutants offers great potential for the restoration of contaminated environments in an ecologically acceptable manner. However, incomplete biological information regarding the regulation of growth and metabolism in many microbial communities restricts progress in the site-specific mineralization process. In the postgenomic era, recent advances in MS have allowed enormous progress in proteomics and elucidated many complex biological interactions. These research forefronts are now expanding toward the analysis of low-molecular-weight primary and secondary metabolites analysis, i.e., metabolomics. The advent of 2-DE in conjunction with MS offers a promising approach to address the molecular mechanisms of bioremediation. The two fields of proteomics and metabolomics have thus far worked separately to identify proteins and primary and secondary metabolites during bioremediation. A simultaneous study combining functional proteomics and metabolomics, i.e., proteometabolomics would create a system-wide approach to studying site-specific microorganisms during active mineralization processes. This article deals with advances in environmental proteomics and metabolomics and advocates the simultaneous study of both technologies to implement cell-free bioremediation.