ESSAY: Bioremediation

Assignment Instructions:

Define and describe bioremediation. What is it, and how does it help the environment?
Discuss two examples of specific microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, etc.) that are used to remove pollutants through bioremediation. Provide the scientific name (genus and species) of the two microbes selected, and briefly describe their role in bioremediation.
Bioremediation can come in many forms. There are many approaches that can be taken to address diverse perspectives while also providing benefits to the broader community. In a summary paragraph:
Discuss two examples in which bioremediation can be used to meet a global challenge.
Discuss the benefits of each example (for example, there are different approaches to reducing water pollution or improving the health of the environment).

a. Word document: Submit a 700–900 word paper in APA format including an introduction, conclusion, and in-text citations and reference page.

ANSWER

Introduction

            Bioremediation refers to a process used to treat pollutants or contaminated media, which include soil, water, and subsurface materials. It involves changing environmental conditions to stimulate microorganisms’ growth while degrading the target pollutants (Azubuike et al., 2016). In various cases, bioremediation is more sustainable and less expensive than other alternatives for remediation. A similar approach is a biological treatment for treating such wastes as solid waste, industrial waste, and wastewater. Bioremediation helps the environment through biodegradation. For instance, most processes of bioremediation comprise oxidation-reduction reactions where either oxygen (electron acceptor) is added to stimulate oxidation of hydrocarbons (reduced pollutant) or electron donors added to reduce oxidized pollutants (Ojuederie & Babalola, 2017). Therefore, in both approaches, vitamins, additional nutrients, pH buffers, and minerals to optimize conditions for the microorganisms. In other cases, bio-augmentation (specialized microbial cultures) is added to further biodegradation of waste to improve the environment.

Bioremediation

           Bioremediation uses living organisms to break down pollutants into less harmful, natural compounds. These organisms are also known as bioremediation, and are mostly bacteria, fungi, and archaea because of their rapid rate of growth, ability to be manipulated genetically, and has variable metabolic needs (Magan et al., 2010). In this case, the microorganisms used to remove pollutants via remediation include bacteria and archaea. Bacteria, for instance, are widely diverse, and have significant impact bioremediation, especially when given the right conditions. An example of bacteria playing a major role in bioremediation is Pseudomonas putida, while an example of fungi is of Phanerochaete chrysosporium (Azubuike et al., 2016). Pseudomonas putida is involved in the bioremediation of toluene, which is part of the paint thinner, as well as degrade naphthalene, a petroleum refining product in contaminated soils (Ojuederie & Babalola, 2017). On the other hand, Phanerochaete chrysosporium is linked to degrading organic pollutants.

           Bioremediation can occur in many forms, and many approaches can be carried out to address diverse perspectives, as well as provide benefits to the broader community. In this case, the two examples in which bioremediation can be adopted to meet a global challenge fall into two categories namely in-situ and ex-situ. An example of the in-situ bioremediation treatment method is biostimulation, while the ex-situ bioremediation treatment method includes biopiling. Biostimulation comprises the addition of nutrients…