Metagenomic approach role of psychrotrophic and psychrophilic microbes in bioremediation

The abundance and diversity of microorganisms is an indicator of the health, quality, and functionality of the planet's ecological systems. Several traditional and advanced or modern techniques have been used to understand the composition and functionality of microbial communities in the environment. Microscopic identification and quantification of microorganisms are traditional techniques based on microorganism isolation and purification. More advanced strategies, on the other hand, rely on molecular tools that allow for more precise identification, taxonomic and functional composition of microbial biodiversity in a specific habitat. Metagenomics is a recently developed omics strategy that allows multidimensional studies of the structure of microbial communities from different perspectives (taxonomic and functional). On the other hand, climatological conditions are a determinant of microbial composition in low-temperature environments. The microorganisms inhabiting these cold environments belong to the group of extremophilic microorganisms (psychrophilic), in addition to the cold-tolerant microorganisms (cryotolerant). The study of these microorganisms has unveiled interesting potentials of these microbes in different fields such as agriculture, industry, medicine, etc. This chapter aims to provide an approach to the metagenomic application for the study of microorganisms with tolerance to cold environments and to highlight their potential applications in bioremediation.