The current and future applications of microorganism in the bioremediation of cyanide contamination

Abstract

Inorganic cyanide and nitrile compounds are distributed widely in the environment, chiefly as a result of anthropogenic activity but also through cyanide synthesis by a range of organisms including higher plants, fungi and bacteria. The major source of cyanide in soil and water is through the discharge of effluents containing a variety of inorganic cyanide and nitriles. Here the fate of cyanide compounds in soil and water is reviewed, identifying those factors that affect their persistence and which determine whether they are amenable to biological degradation. The exploitation of cyanides by a variety of taxa, as a mechanism to avoid predation or to inhibit competitors has led to the evolution in many organisms of enzymes that catalyse degradation of a range of cyanide compounds. Microorganisms expressing pathways involved in cyanide degradation are briefly reviewed and the current applications of bacteria and fungi in the biodegradation of cyanide contamination in the field are discussed. Finally, recent advances that offer an insight into the potential of microbial systems for the bioremediation of cyanide compounds under a range of environmental conditions are identified, and the future potential of these technologies for the treatment of cyanide pollution is discussed.

Identification of an Active Site-bound Nitrile Hydratase Intermediate through Single Turnover Stopped-flow Spectroscopy

“…More than 3,500 tons of nicotinamide are produced per year via NHase, with yields of Ͼ99% and without formation of troublesome byproducts such as acrylic acid (4). NHases have also been employed as bioremediation agents to clean up nitrile-based pesticides, such as bromoxynil (5). Because of their exquisite reaction specificity, the nitrile-hydrolyzing potential of NHase enzymes is becoming increasingly recognized as a truly new type of "green" chemistry.…”

Review of the Impact on Water Quality and Treatment Options of Cyanide Used in Gold Ore Processing

“…The sulphide produced is precipitated by metal ions resulting in its removal from aqueous tailings. [34,43,[76][77][78][79]. The availability of nutrient carbon has been found as a limiting factor in the biodegradation of metal-cyanide complexes [75].…”

Bioremediation of soil and water polluted by cyanide: A review

“…Figure 2 show the bioremediation applied on the entity polluted by cyanide in the World. Most of them were observed in America such as United States (Akcil and Mudder, 2003;Fernandez et al, 2004;Kunz et al, 1992;Kunz et al, 1998;Pinedo-Rivilla et al, 2009;Silvaavalos et al, 1990;Singleton et al, 1988;Wang et al, 1996), Mexico (Meehan et al, 1999), Ecuador (Diaz and Caizaguano, 1999); Europa such as France (Dumestre et al, 1997;Ferret, 2012), Germany (Ingvorsen en Godtfredsen, 1991), Switzerland (Brandl et al, 2003), Italy (Cipollone et al, 2007), Spain (Luque-Almagro et al, 2005;Luque-Almagro et al, 2008;Quesada et al, 2007), United Kingdom (Baxter and Cummings, 2006;Ezzi and Lynch, 2005), Ukraine (Podolska et al, 2003); Asia such as China (Zhou et al, 2007), India (Bipinraj et al, 2003;Shete and Kapdnis, 2012), Japan (Yamasaki et al, 2002), Iran (Mirizadeh et al, 2014;Naghavi et al, 2012), Malaysia (Maniyam et al, 2011), Taiwan , Thailand (Potivichayanon and Kitleartpornpairoat, 2010) and Oceania such as Australia (Markwiese and White 1991). Few Africans countries as Ghana (Adii, 2011), Nigeria (Oyedeji et al, 2013), South Africa (Akinpelu et al, 2015;…”

“…Cyanide is converted to carbon and nitrogen source by various enzymes present in microorganism (Ibrahim et al, 2015). The several researchers have been reviewed a bioremediation tests in different scale and conditions (Baxter and Cummings, 2006;Dash et al, 2009;Luque-Almagro et al, 2016). But, few of them show the applicability of the bioremediation technologies in the African countries.…”