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<p>Mercury (Hg) contamination has emerged as a pervasive and persistent global environmental threat due to its high toxicity, long-range atmospheric transport, bioaccumulative behaviour, and severe ecological and human health impacts. Major anthropogenic sources such as industrial emissions, artisanal and large-scale mining, and the disposal of electronic waste have significantly accelerated mercury dispersion across terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, thereby causing a serious threat to the biotic ecosystem. Conventional remediation techniques, including chemical stabilization, thermal treatment, and soil excavation, are often economically burdensome, environmentally invasive, and insufficiently effective for large-scale application. In response to these limitations, extremophilic microorganisms comprising both bacteria and archaea adapted to thrive under extreme physicochemical conditions have gained increasing attention as viable agents for mercury bioremediation. Extremophilic microorganisms are promising contenders for bioremediation of mercury because of their special metabolic pathways and tolerance for surviving and acting in highly toxic environments. These organisms possess highly specialized enzymatic systems and genetic determinants (e.g., mer operon, heavy metal transporters) that enable them to tolerate, transform, and detoxify mercury in environments where conventional microbes cannot survive. Accordingly, this review provides a critical and comprehensive synthesis of the current state of knowledge on extremophile-mediated mercury detoxification. It elucidates the underlying biochemical and molecular mechanisms, explores diverse ecological niches of extremophiles relevant to Hg-contaminated sites, and evaluates their practical applications in bioremediation strategies. Furthermore, it identifies key research gaps and proposes innovative frameworks to advance the deployment of extremophiles in field-scale mercury remediation efforts. Ultimately, the study underscores the promise of leveraging nature's most resilient organisms for mitigating one of the most challenging global pollutants and will help in achieving sustainable development goal (SDGs) 6 and 7.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>

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Mercury Bioremediation Using Extremophiles: Advances in Microbial Strategies and Environmental Applications

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年8月29日

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  • MSSR Tejaswini,
  • Jannatun Zia

摘要

Mercury (Hg) contamination has emerged as a pervasive and persistent global environmental threat due to its high toxicity, long-range atmospheric transport, bioaccumulative behaviour, and severe ecological and human health impacts. Major anthropogenic sources such as industrial emissions, artisanal and large-scale mining, and the disposal of electronic waste have significantly accelerated mercury dispersion across terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, thereby causing a serious threat to the biotic ecosystem. Conventional remediation techniques, including chemical stabilization, thermal treatment, and soil excavation, are often economically burdensome, environmentally invasive, and insufficiently effective for large-scale application. In response to these limitations, extremophilic microorganisms comprising both bacteria and archaea adapted to thrive under extreme physicochemical conditions have gained increasing attention as viable agents for mercury bioremediation. Extremophilic microorganisms are promising contenders for bioremediation of mercury because of their special metabolic pathways and tolerance for surviving and acting in highly toxic environments. These organisms possess highly specialized enzymatic systems and genetic determinants (e.g., mer operon, heavy metal transporters) that enable them to tolerate, transform, and detoxify mercury in environments where conventional microbes cannot survive. Accordingly, this review provides a critical and comprehensive synthesis of the current state of knowledge on extremophile-mediated mercury detoxification. It elucidates the underlying biochemical and molecular mechanisms, explores diverse ecological niches of extremophiles relevant to Hg-contaminated sites, and evaluates their practical applications in bioremediation strategies. Furthermore, it identifies key research gaps and proposes innovative frameworks to advance the deployment of extremophiles in field-scale mercury remediation efforts. Ultimately, the study underscores the promise of leveraging nature's most resilient organisms for mitigating one of the most challenging global pollutants and will help in achieving sustainable development goal (SDGs) 6 and 7.

Graphical Abstract