| dc.description.abstract | Non-metal, metal and metalloid oxyanions occur naturally
in minerals and rocks of the Earth’s crust and
are mostly found in low concentrations or confined
in specific regions of the planet. However, anthropogenic
activities including urban development, mining,
agriculture, industrial activities and new technologies
have increased the release of oxyanions to the environment,
which threatens the sustainability of natural
ecosystems, in turn affecting human development.
For these reasons, the implementation of new
methods that could allow not only the remediation of
oxyanion contaminants but also the recovery of valuable
elements from oxyanions of the environment is
imperative. From this perspective, the use of microorganisms
emerges as a strategy complementary to
physical, mechanical and chemical methods. In this
review, we discuss the opportunities that the Pseudomonas
genus offers for the bioremediation of
oxyanions, which is derived from its specialized central
metabolism and the high number of oxidoreductases
present in the genomes of these bacteria.
Finally, we review the current knowledge on the
transport and metabolism of specific oxyanions in
Pseudomonas species. We consider that the
Pseudomonas genus is an excellent starting point for
the development of biotechnological approaches for
the upcycling of oxyanions into added-value metal
and metalloid byproducts. | |
