Bioremediation, degradation of toxi

Bioremediation, degradation of toxic compounds using biological agents, pro- vides an effective solution and convert contaminants into non-toxic or less toxic form. Bioremediation is defined as the productive use of microbes to remove or detoxify pollutants, usually contaminants in soil, water, or sediments that otherwise threaten public health (Tsekova et al. 2010). Bioremediation is a process that removes xenobiotic compounds from the biosphere. Bioremediation process employs various microorganisms or plants to eliminate hazardous contaminants by metabolizing them and by converting them into CO2 and water. The main aim of the bioremediation is to eliminate contaminants to undetectable concentration limit, which is established by regulatory agencies (Lun et al. 2018).Various organisms have been employed to remove the variety of contaminants, which include bacteria, fungi, plants, algae, etc. Among all organisms, fungi are a diverse group of organisms, which are ubiquitous in the environment. Their major contribution ranges from various industrial applications to remediation purposes (de Lorenzo 2018). Fungi can easily survive in most of the habitats and play dynamic role in ecosystem. They regulate the flow of energy and nutrients through their mycelial networks. Additionally, their effect to the environment is seen microscopi- cally, even though impact is unseen from outer biosphere. In the soil, mycelial net- works are generally covered from several meters to several hectares of forest, which decay and convert the organics and other metabolites into another form. Thus, these fungi are considered the natural and true ecosystem engineers (Kumar et al. 2018).