Environments contaminated by pesticides are hotspots for the selection of bacterial chassis for biotechnological applications.

Water storage tanks contaminated with pesticides serve as a model for an artificial ecosystem in which non-target species, particularly microorganisms, must develop various response mechanisms to survive in such environments. These mechanisms can be classified into non-specific responses, which are associated with various stressors, as well as specific responses to herbicides. Due to the stressful conditions present in these environments, they are regarded as hotspots for the selection of bacterial chassis or consortia of strains that possess combinations of genes encoding diverse phenotypes adapted for survival against a range of toxic substances. This literature review aims to extend the concept of hotspots to other aquatic and terrestrial environments contaminated with pesticides, while also discussing hypotheses regarding the potential exploitation of adapted phenotypes in biotechnological applications. These applications include bioprospecting for microorganisms that produce antimicrobial or antitumor agents, developing live biotherapeutic products for various diseases, and implementing bioremediation strategies. While well established, advances in omics technologies offer new opportunities to enhance the efficiency and safety of these strategies by manipulating gene regulatory systems. However, substantial investment is needed for genetic and metabolic manipulation. Thus, identifying selective hotspots is a beneficial strategy for obtaining viable chassis, as many organisms have already been selected in their ecosystems, along with detailing regulatory systems through omics approaches.