xenobiotic degradation

XenoBug: machine learning-based tool to predict pollutant-degrading enzymes from environmental metagenomes

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XenoBug is a new artificial intelligence tool that helps scientists find bacteria and their enzymes that can break down harmful pollutants like pesticides, plastics, and petroleum products. The tool analyzes genetic information from environmental samples to predict which enzymes can degrade specific toxic chemicals. This discovery approach could make environmental cleanup faster and cheaper by identifying the right microbes for the job. Researchers can use XenoBug to get starting points for developing new biological cleanup solutions.

Fungal biodegradation of chlorinated herbicides: an overview with an emphasis on 2,4-D in Argentina

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Fungi can effectively break down and remove harmful herbicides like 2,4-D, which is widely used in Argentine agriculture but poses health and environmental risks. Through their powerful enzymatic machinery, certain fungal species can degrade these toxic chemicals into less harmful substances. This review examines how these fungal degradation processes work and discusses how such fungi might be safely introduced into contaminated environments to clean them up, following Argentina’s regulatory requirements.

Benefits of Immobilized Bacteria in Bioremediation of Sites Contaminated with Toxic Organic Compounds

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This review explains how immobilizing bacteria on solid carriers like biochar can make them much more effective at cleaning up polluted soil and water. When bacteria are attached to a matrix material, they form protective biofilms that help them survive toxic pollutants better than free-floating bacteria. By combining immobilized bacteria with the right carrier materials, environmental cleanup can be faster, cheaper, and more sustainable than traditional chemical methods.

White Rot Fungi as Tools for the Bioremediation of Xenobiotics: A Review

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White rot fungi are nature’s cleanup crew that can break down many toxic chemicals in our environment, from industrial dyes to pesticides. These special fungi produce powerful enzymes that can degrade pollutants that normally resist breakdown, making them promising tools for cleaning contaminated soil and water. Scientists are studying how to better harness these fungi’s abilities to treat industrial wastewater and restore polluted environments.

Advances in the Degradation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons by Yeasts: A Review

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This review explores how yeasts, tiny single-celled fungi, can clean up environments contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) – harmful chemicals produced by car emissions, factories, and burning. These yeasts use special enzymes to break down these toxic compounds into less harmful substances, making them a promising natural solution for environmental cleanup. Scientists are also improving these yeasts through genetic engineering to make them even more effective at removing pollution.

Extremely chaotolerant and kosmotolerant Aspergillus atacamensis – a metabolically versatile fungus suitable for recalcitrant biosolid treatment

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Scientists discovered a special fungus called Aspergillus atacamensis that can survive in extremely salty environments, similar to salt lakes in the Atacama Desert. This fungus is remarkable because it can break down harmful pollutants and chemicals, including medications and oil-based compounds. Researchers tested its ability to clean contaminated wastewater and biosolids, finding it highly effective at removing various contaminants. This discovery opens new possibilities for using this hardy fungus to clean up environmental pollution in industries and wastewater treatment facilities.

Metabolic fingerprinting to elucidate the biodegradation of phosphonoacetic acid and its impact on Penicillium metabolism

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Scientists studied how three types of mold fungi break down and use a phosphorus-containing compound called phosphonoacetic acid. Using advanced chemical analysis, they identified unique metabolic patterns in each fungal strain depending on whether they were given regular phosphorus or the more challenging phosphonoacetic acid. These findings reveal how fungi adapt their internal chemistry to handle different phosphorus sources and could help identify which fungi are best at breaking down harmful phosphorus-containing chemicals in the environment.

Fluorescence-Based Soil Survival Analysis of the Xenobiotic- and Metal-Detoxifying Streptomyces sp. MC1

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Scientists developed a way to track a soil bacterium called Streptomyces sp. MC1 that can clean up polluted soils by breaking down harmful chemicals and reducing toxic metals like chromium. They added a glowing green fluorescent protein to the bacteria so they could easily see where the bacteria were and how long they survived in contaminated soil. In tests with soil contaminated with two different pollutants, the tagged bacteria successfully removed over 96% of chromium and 65% of lindane over 28 days, demonstrating the approach works for monitoring bioremediation efforts.

Mycoremediation of azole antifungal agents using in vitro cultures of Lentinula edodes

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This research shows that shiitake mushrooms (Lentinula edodes) can help clean up antifungal medications that contaminate water and soil. When the mushroom mycelium was exposed to two common antifungal drugs used in creams and treatments, it absorbed and broke down these compounds. The mushrooms degraded about one-third of the drugs by targeting their chemical structure, particularly the imidazole ring. This suggests mushrooms could be used as a natural, cost-effective solution for removing pharmaceutical pollution from the environment.

Research Keyword: xenobiotic degradation