Xenobiotic compounds are man-made compounds and widely used in dyes, drugs, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, explosives, and other industrial chemicals. These compounds have been released into our soil and water due to anthropogenic activities and improper waste disposal practices and cause serious damage to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems due to their toxic nature. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has listed several toxic substances as priority pollutants. Bacterial remediation is identified as an emerging technique to remove these substances from the environment. Many bacterial genera are actively involved in the degradation of toxic substances. Among the bacterial genera, the members of the genus Bacillus have a great potential to degrade or transform various toxic substances. Many Bacilli have been isolated and characterized by their ability to degrade or transform a wide range of compounds including both naturally occurring substances and xenobiotic compounds. This review describes the biodegradation potentials of Bacilli toward various toxic substances, including 4-chloro-2-nitrophenol, insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, explosives, drugs, polycyclic aromatic compounds, heavy metals, azo dyes, and aromatic acids. Besides, the advanced technologies used for bioremediation of environmental pollutants using Bacilli are also briefly described. This review will increase our understanding of Bacilli-mediated degradation of xenobiotic compounds and heavy metals.

中文翻译：

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杆菌介导的外源化合物和重金属降解

外源化合物是人造化合物，广泛用于染料、药物、农药、除草剂、杀虫剂、炸药和其他工业化学品。由于人类活动和不当的废物处理方法，这些化合物已释放到我们的土壤和水中，并因其毒性而对水生和陆地生态系统造成严重破坏。美国环境保护署 (USEPA) 将几种有毒物质列为优先污染物。细菌修复被认为是一种从环境中去除这些物质的新兴技术。许多细菌属积极参与有毒物质的降解。在细菌属中，芽孢杆菌属的成员具有降解或转化各种有毒物质的巨大潜力。许多芽孢杆菌已被分离出来，并以其降解或转化多种化合物（包括天然存在的物质和外源化合物）的能力为特征。这篇综述描述了芽孢杆菌对各种有毒物质的生物降解潜力，包括4-氯-2-硝基苯酚、杀虫剂、杀虫剂、除草剂、炸药、药物、多环芳香族化合物、重金属、偶氮染料和芳香酸。此外，还简要介绍了利用芽孢杆菌生物修复环境污染物的先进技术。这篇综述将增加我们对芽孢杆菌介导的外源化合物和重金属降解的理解。