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. 2026 Jan 19;16(5):4184–4203. doi: 10.1039/d5ra07508d

Table 2. Key microbial taxa involved in PFAS-degradation.

Microbes involved PFAS compound Known function/adaptation Evidence (technique used) References
Pseudomonas plecoglossicida 2.4-D Perfluorooctanyl sulfonate Efflux pumps, oxidative stress resistance, biosurfactant production Metagenomics, transcriptomics 149
Dehalococcoides mccartyi Trichloroethane and tetrachloroethane Reductive defluorination via electron transfer Enrichment cultures, anaerobic reactors 150
Acidimicrobium sp. A6 Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) Hypothesized defluorination capability, resilience to acidic environments Shotgun metagenomics 61
Desulfovibrio PFAS Anaerobic metabolism, potential co-metabolism of fluorinated compounds Sulfate-reducing bioreactors, proteomics 151
Pseudomonas putida 2,2-Difluoro-1,3-benzodioxole Aromatic compound metabolism, stress-responsive pathways Transcriptomics, gene expression profiling 152
Mycobacterium phocaicum MBWY-1 Fluoroglycofen ethyl Hydrophobic compound assimilation, high cell wall tolerance Genomic surveys, culture-based studies 153
Desulfomonile tiedjei 6:2 chlorinated polyfluorooctane ether sulfonate (6:2 Cl-PFESA) Anaerobic dehalogenation, syntrophic metabolism Metagenomics, stable isotope probing (SIP) 154
Sphingomonas Fluorine Organic contaminant degradation, membrane transporters Whole-genome sequencing, proteomics 155
Geobacter metallireducens GS15 Different organic pollutants Electron transfer chains, redox-active biofilms Electrochemical enrichment, functional metagenomics 156
Labrys portucalensis F11 Sulfonic acid (PFOS), 6:2-fluorotelomer sulfonic acid (6:2 FTS), and 5:3-fluorotelomer carboxylic acid (5:3 FTCA) Aerobic degradation, possible syntrophic interactions Microcosms 157
Novosphingobium sp. 2-, 3-, or 4-rings aromatic hydrocarbons Degradation of xenobiotic compounds, aromatic ring-cleaving dioxygenases Whole-genome sequencing, culture-dependent assays 158
Thauera humireducens Humus- and Fe(iii) Versatile anoxic respiration, fluorinated compound transformation Denitrifying bioreactors, transcriptomics 159
Achromobacter sp. HZ01 Hydrocarbons Biofilm formation, efflux mechanisms, alkyl chain cleavage Microcosm studies, metabolomics 160
Variovorax sp. Methylcyclohexane, N-hexadecane and cyclohexane Aromatic degradation pathways, stress signaling Genome-resolved metagenomics 161
Polaromonas Psychrotolerance, potential PFAS adsorption High-throughput sequencing from cold environments 162
Rhodococcus sp. Monofluorinated alkane Catabolic versatility, degradation of hydrophobic fluorinated compounds Culture-dependent screening, GC-MS 163
Alcaligenes aquatilis Sulfametoxydiazine Niche adaptation to wastewater, biodegradation of persistent pollutants Bioreactor studies, qPCR 164
Azoarcus sp. PA01 o-Phthalate Anoxic metabolism, degradation of aliphatic fluorinated compounds Anaerobic batch experiments, functional gene analysis 165
Comamonas trifloxystrobinivorans sp. nov. Agrochemical contaminants (trifloxystrobin) Versatile metabolism, perfluorinated acid transformation Environmental genomics, chemical transformation assays 166