ABSTRACT
Due to anthropogenic activity, our surrounding environment is contaminated day by day, and it is causing severe health effects to humans. Different physicochemical methods are implicated in removing the xenobiotic compounds, but these are not efficient and expensive too. The application of these methods ends up with the production of secondary pollutants. Severe symptoms have been seen due to these xenobiotic compounds, such as allergy, itching, respiratory problems, digestive problems, paralysis, and cancer. For the last few years, microorganisms have been used to remove hazardous chemicals from our surrounding environment. Microorganisms work at the optimum environment and metabolize xenobiotic compounds as their source of carbon and energy. Microbes secrete extracellular enzymes, such as oxygenase, esterase, laccase, and dehydrogenase, and degrade toxic compounds to nontoxic and environmentally safe forms. Using microbial enzymes as a new biological tool for biodegradation is the current interest of the researcher. This chapter summarizes all the microbial enzymes (fungal and bacterial) and their applications in biodegradation and bioremediation processes.
