Scandium-microorganism interactions in new biotechnologies

Abstract

Scandium (Sc) plays a special role in high-tech industries because of its wide application in green, space, and defense technologies. However, Sc mining and purification are problematic due to political, technological, and environmental difficulties. The deficit of this element limits global technological development. One sustainable solution to this problem is to use microorganisms to extract Sc from ore and waste, as well as to concentrate and separate it from other elements. Sc also demonstrates attractive metabolic effects on microbes that is of great interest in white biotechnology. Sc increases the production of proteins and secondary metabolites and activates poorly expressed genes. This review offers a comprehensive analysis of current knowledge on the application of Sc-microorganism interactions in promising biotechnologies, its perspectives, and future challenges.

Keywords: Scandium; bioaccumulation; bioleaching; rare earth element; silent gene activation.