Abstract

A REVIEW ON BIOFILM MEDIATED BIOREMEDIATION

Shweta Nakul* and Nisha Kanwar

Abstract

In this review, Bioremediation ability of Biofilms helps in the degradation of different types of industrial pollutants. The ability to form biofilms is a universal attribute of bacteria. Biofilms are microbial cells that have aggregated together on a surface. Biofilms can be made up of one type of cell or multitude of cell genera. Sites of biofilm formation include natural materials, metals, plastics and more. The mechanisms of different bacteria to form biofilms varies, depending on environmental conditions and specific strain attributes. Bioremediation is an eco-friendly, cost effective, sustainable technology that utilizes microbes to degrade a wide variety of pollutants into less harmful products. Relative to free-floating planktonic cells, microbes existing in biofilm mode are advantageous for bioremediation because of greater tolerance to pollutants, environmental stress and ability to degrade varied harsh pollutants via diverse catabolic pathways.

Keywords: biofilm, bioremediation, extracellular polymeric substances, quorum sensing