Prospects of Using Soil Microbiome of Mine Tips for Remediation of Anthropogenically Disturbed Ecosystems

Abstract

Introduction. Coal industry increases soil pollution with heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Therefore, resoiling is an urgent problem that requires an immediate solution. The present research objective was to substantiate the use of microorganisms from mine tips in order to decrease soil pollution with heavy metals and oil compounds. Study objects and methods. The review featured five years of publications in Scopus, Web of Science, and Elibrary, which were subjected to analysis, systematization, and generalization. Results and discussion. Coal industry changes landscapes, flora, fauna, and soil microbiome. Bioremediation uses various microorganisms as means of resoiling. Some microorganisms isolated from coal mining waste are resistant to heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and are able to utilize them. For instance, such bacteria as Bacillus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are capable of degrading oil pollutants. Microorganisms of Enterobacter and Klebsiella species were found to be resistant to copper, iron, lead, and manganese. Bacteria of the genera Bacillus, Arthrobacter, Pseudoarthrobacter, and Sinomonas are now to be resistant to nickel, arsenic, and chromium. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi increase the activity of soil enzymes, improve soil fertility, and decompose various organic compounds. Conclusion. Sequencing methods make it possible to determine the species composition of soils in mine tips in order to search for new strains capable of restoring former mining areas.

Keywords

• coal industry
• bioremediation
• heavy metals
• polycyclic hydrocarbons
• microbiome