Microbial degradation of chlorophenols in soil

Chlorophenols are widely used in different branches of industry and agriculture as components of pesticides, disinfectants and wood treatment agents. They are hardly degradable and, therefore, can accumulate in the environment. One of the environment friendly methods of their removal from contaminated soil is microbial degradation. The efficiency of this process is determined by many abiotic and biotic factors. The first include the chemical structure of contaminants, their content and bioavailability as well as temperature, pH, soil texture, water content and oxygen concentration. In turn, biotic factors include the structure of microbial communities, stability and enzymatic activity of cells, their biomass, ability to chemotaxis and interactions between microorganisms. Several strategies have been developed to enhance the removal of chlorophenols from contaminated soil. The most effective in detoxifying these compounds are bioaugmentation, biostimulation and the use of "activated soil". In this review, the influence of different factors on microbial degradation of chlorophenols in soil are described and the applicability of selected methods in their removal are discussed.