Authors: Raghavendra Kumar, Smita Tiwari
Abstract: Microbial communities inhabiting contaminated ecosystems often develop complex resistance mechanisms to survive toxic environmental stressors. Understanding the molecular basis of this resistance is essential for ecological risk assessment and the development of bioremediation strategies. CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) technology, originally discovered as an adaptive immune system in bacteria and archaea, has emerged as a transformative tool for functional genomics and microbial ecology. This study explores how CRISPR-based approaches can elucidate microbial resistance mechanisms in polluted habitats, including heavy metal-rich soils, industrial effluents, and pesticide-contaminated farmlands. Using CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) and activation (CRISPRa), researchers can selectively knock down or upregulate microbial genes linked to metal ion transport, oxidative stress response, and efflux pump regulation. Metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) in tandem with CRISPR screens provide a robust framework to map resistance pathways at the community level. This article presents an overview of current CRISPR applications in microbial resistance research, evaluates their ecological implications, and highlights their potential to inform biotechnological interventions for ecosystem restoration. By integrating gene-editing precision with metagenomic profiling, CRISPR tools open new avenues to monitor, model, and modulate microbial responses to contamination.
DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16871016
