Bioprospecting and exploration of extremophilic enzymes in bioremediation of wastewater polluted

Water, covering three-quarters of the Earth, is crucial for life and ecosystems and is also essential in industrial processes. However, most aquatic environments are polluted due to the massive discharge of wastewater with high pollutant loads, which threatens ecosystem health. To mitigate this environmental impact, humans have tried various physical and chemical strategies, but increased wastewater and reagents have the disadvantage of generating more waste, making it an environmentally unsustainable problem. Governments are now focusing on integrating living organisms or biological treatments to reduce or mitigate pollutants in contaminated matrices. Microbial biodiversity is being studied through bioprospecting strategies and the search for new microorganisms capable of biodegrading pollutants. Extremophilic microbes, which have undergone evolutionary processes and exhibited adaptive traits, have the potential to transform harmful contaminants into beneficial resources and improve their tolerance mechanisms to complex pollutants. This chapter aims to provide updated information on sustainable wastewater bioremediation processes using extremophilic microorganisms and their enzymes, considering their properties, characteristics, stability, and biodegradation capacity. Genetic modifications and editions are also discussed to obtain biomolecules with greater versatility and efficacy.