Emerging frontiers in microbe-mediated pesticide remediation: Unveiling role of omics and In silico approaches in engineered environment

Abstract

The overuse of pesticides for augmenting agriculture productivity always comes at the cost of environment, biodiversity, and human health and has put the land, water, and environmental footprints under severe threat throughout the globe. Underpinning and maximizing the microbiome functions in pesticide-contaminated environments has become a prerequisite for a sustainable environment and resilient agriculture. It is imperative to elucidate the metabolic network of the microbial communities and environmental variables at the contaminated site to predict the best strategy for remediation and soil microbe-pesticide interactions. High throughput next-generation sequencing and in silico analysis allow us to identify and discern the members and characteristics of core microbiomes at the contaminated site. Integration of modern high throughput multi-omics investigations and informatics pipelines provide novel approaches and pathways to capitalize on the core microbiomes for enhancing environmental functioning and mitigation. The role of eco-genomics tools in visualising the microbial network, taxonomy, functional potential, and environmental variables in contaminated habitats is discussed in this review. The integrated role of the potential microbe identification as individual or consortia, mechanistic approach for pesticide degradation, identification of responsible enzymes/genes, and in silico approach is emphasized for the prospects of the area.

Keywords: Core microbiome; In silico; Microbiome; Omics; Pesticides; Sustainable.