MICROBIAL CONSORTIA AS A STRATEGIC APPROACH FOR SUSTAINABLE REMEDIATION OF HEAVY METAL CONTAMINATED SOILS: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW

Contamination with heavy metals in soil has become an increasingly critical problem owing to their inability to degrade, long-lasting impacts on the ecosystem, and possible hazards to human health. Various anthropogenic factors like industrial effluents, mining, and extensive agricultural practices have led to considerable accumulation of hazardous metals in the soil environment. Traditional approaches to soil contamination have been shown to be somewhat effective; however, they suffer from significant shortcomings in terms of their high cost and incompleteness, along with possible negative environmental consequences. Current developments in environmental biotechnology indicate the potential use of microbial communities as an advanced means of soil remediation from heavy metals. Consortia possess superior metabolic diversity, ecological adaptability, and stress resistance compared to individual microorganisms. The present review is focused on elucidating the principles of microbial community interaction, metal detoxification strategies, and their ecological dynamics during heavy metal remediation processes using microorganisms. In addition, novel approaches including bio-enhanced phytoremediation, nanotechnology-enabled bioremediation, and omics-based microbial engineering approaches are considered. In this review paper, a comprehensive evaluation is done on ecological interactions, metal tolerance mechanisms, and microbial interactions involved in the process of consortium-based remediation. Further, emerging methodologies such as microbial engineering using omics technology, nano-bioremediation, and phytoremediation assisted by microorganisms have been carefully analyzed. Finally, the key challenges in practical implementation of the process and possible solutions have been outlined.