Title: Microbially Assisted Phytoremediation of Heavy Metal–Contaminated Soils
Abstract: Ecosystems have been contaminated with heavy metals and organic pollutants because of various human and natural activities. Because of the high cost of chemical technology, phytoremediation, which uses plants to treat metal-contaminated sites, is believed to be more environmentally friendly and economically cheap cleanup strategy than other conventional remediation strategy. However, environmental stresses inhibit the growth and development of plants, potentially reducing the efficiency of phytoremediation. Soil microorganisms, which live in close association with plants, support the establishment and growth of plants on heavy metal–contaminated soils by producing plant growth hormones, inducing siderophores, solubilizing phosphorus, and, with a host of enzymatic activities, consequently altering the bioavailability of metals. Soil microorganisms are also able to lower the level of the growth-inhibiting stress hormone, ethylene, within a plant growing in soils contaminated with heavy metals. Through these mechanisms, they may facilitate plant growth and thus increase the efficiency of phytoremediation. This chapter presents an overview of the potential role of root-associated microbes to remediate heavy metal–contaminated soils and provides some insight of how microbes can be exploited to enhance phytoremediation.
Publication Year: 2016
Publication Date: 2016-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 24
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot