Biodegradation and bioremediation of TNT and other nitro explosives

Nitro explosives are toxic and persistent anthropogenic compounds. The recent discovery of nitro explosive-degrading biocatalysts (enzymes or redox-active biomolecules) opens new perspectives for the development and design of bioremediation systems. Ordnances contain different explosive formulations with specific mixtures of nitro explosives that are characterized by dissimilar biodegradation and transport patterns in contaminated sites. Because co-contamination is frequently observed in the field, this review presents promising biodegradation pathways for the different classes of nitro explosives and multifaceted approaches to improve and more effectively monitor the performance of a bioremediation process that must integrate multiple biodegradative machineries and biomonitoring circuits