Evolution of pollutant biodegradation

Pollutant-derived risks to human and environmental health are exacerbated by slow natural attenuation rates, often driven by pollutant toxicity to microorganisms that can degrade them or limitations to the ability of microorganisms to metabolise them. This review explores mechanisms employed by bacteria to protect themselves from pollutant toxicity in the context of the evolution of pollutant-degrading abilities. The role of promiscuous enzymes in pollutant transformation is subsequently reviewed, highlighting the emergence of novel metabolic pathways and their transcriptional regulation in response to pollutant exposure, followed by the gene transcription regulation to optimise the cellular component synthesis for adaptation on the novel substrate. Additionally, we discuss epistatic interactions among mutations vital for this process both at macromolecular and at cellular levels. Finally, evolutionary constraints towards enhanced fitness in the context of pollutant degradation are considered, the constraints imposed by the epistasis from mutations on both enzyme level and cellular level, concluding with challenges and emerging opportunities to develop sustainable contaminated site remediation technologies. KEY POINTS: •Pollutants can exert toxicity on cellular membrane, enzyme and gene transcription. •Bacteria can patch promiscuous enzymes into novel pathway to degrade pollutants. •The evolution trajectory is constrained by epistasis from mutations on enzyme and cellular level.