13. A Unique Biotechnological Resource for Wastewater Treatment and Other Applications Using Marine Actinobacteria Bioflocculant

Expansion of industrial enterprises and human activities aggregates the multiplication of wastewater discharge, posing a threat to the environment. The wastewater contains organic and inorganic pollutants including heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, and mercury that are consequently released back into the environment, resulting in an immense hazard to human health. Coagulation-flocculation is an extensively applied physicochemical technique for wastewater treatment. Globally, these chemically synthesized organic and inorganic flocculants are broadly used in fermentation processes and wastewater treatment due to their high efficiency. Moreover, they have a dominant role in removing suspended particles, colloids, and cellular debris. Nevertheless, these flocculating agents are nonbiodegradable and have been associated with various health risks, including Alzheimer’s and cancer. Hence, the evolution of biodegradable flocculants is ineluctable. Bioflocculants have gained more attention over chemical flocculants due to their sustainability and tremendous role in eliminating toxic effluents from wastewater. Currently, many microorganisms such as Actinomycetes, fungi, bacteria, and algae are extensively used to produce extracellular biopolymers that serve as bioflocculants. Actinobacterial flocculants are non-toxic, environmentally safe, and have a paucity of secondary metabolites. They are described as a class of microorganisms that are capable of producing numerous bioactive molecules such as anticancer and antimicrobial products. The marine Actinomycetes have been extensively used over terrestrial ones, due to their wide range of diversity and their vital role in various biotechnological applications.