High-risk pollutants (HRPs) are a class of contaminants capable of causing adverse effects on organisms even at extremely low concentrations. These include various pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), steroidal estrogens, phenolic endocrine-disrupting compounds, and more. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) act as both sources and sinks for HRPs. Among the treatment methods employed in WWTPs, biological processes remain the most widely used due to their cost-effectiveness and sustainability. However, traditional biological treatment processes in WWTPs were initially designed to address conventional pollutants and often fall short of effectively removing HRPs.

Challenges arise from the inherent toxicity of HRPs, their low concentrations, and the complexity of environmental factors that influence microbial degradation. Addressing these challenges necessitates enhancing the activity and resilience of functional microorganisms or microbial consortia capable of degrading HRPs in wastewater. A deeper understanding of these functional microorganisms, coupled with innovative engineering strategies, holds the key to advancing biological approaches for HRP removal.

This Research Topic aims to bring together cutting-edge research that explores novel ideas, techniques, methodologies, and discoveries focused on solving the issue of HRPs in wastewater through microbiological approaches. We invite submissions that delve into the identification, design, application, and mechanistic understanding of functional microorganisms or microbial consortia in HRP management.

This Research Topic covers, but is not limited to, the following topics:

1. Identification and Bioaugmentation

(1) Discovery and characterization of microorganisms capable of degrading high-risk pollutants in wastewater.

(2) Strategies to enhance microbial performance in situ for HRP removal.

2. Development and Application of Microbial Consortia

(1) Design and optimization of microbial consortia for synergistic degradation of HRPs.

(2) Pilot- and full-scale application studies in WWTPs.

3. Synthetic Biology Approaches

(1) Engineering microorganisms with enhanced capabilities for HRP degradation.

(2) Development of synthetic pathways or regulatory networks tailored for wastewater applications.

4. Mechanistic Studies

(1) Elucidation of metabolic pathways and enzymes involved in HRP degradation.

(2) Investigations into microbial community dynamics and interactions in the presence of HRPs.

(3) Studies on the impact of environmental factors on microbial performance and HRP removal

Please note that Microbiotechnology does not consider descriptive studies that are solely based on amplicon (e.g., 16S rRNA, 18SrRNA, ITS and other marker genes) profiles. All submissions must be hypothesis-driven and are experimentally-driven or cross-list with Frontiers in Microbiomes.

Are you interested in contributing a manuscript to this Research Topic?

Identifying or Engineering Functional Microorganisms for Efficient Removal of High-Risk Pollutants in Wastewater