Phytoremediation—An Overview

The use of plants (directly or indirectly) to remediate contaminated soil or water is known as phytoremediation. This technology has emerged as a more cost effective, noninvasive, and publicly acceptable way to address the removal of environmental contaminants. Plants can be used to accumulate inorganic and organic contaminants, metabolize organic contaminants, and encourage microbial degradation of organic contaminants in the root zone. Widespread utilization of phytoremediation can be limited by the small habitat range or size of plants expressing remediation potential, and insufficient abilities of native plants to tolerate, detoxify, and accumulate contaminants. A better understanding and appreciation of the potential mechanisms for removing contaminants from the root zone and the interaction between plants, microorganisms, and contaminants will be useful in extending the application of phytoremediation to additional contaminated sites.

Keywords:

• hyperaccumulation
• phytodegradation
• phytoextraction
• phytofiltration
• phytoimmobilization
• phytostabilization
• rhizodegradation
• rhizofiltration

Notes

¹Pollutant(s): MeHg = methyl mercury, ACET = acetochlor, MET = metolachlor, GTN = glycerol trinitrate, TNT = trinitrotoluene, PCP = pentachlorophenol, LN = linuron, ISP = isoproturon, CT = chlortoluron, ATR = atrazine.

²Plant: Brassica napus, Brassica juncea, Arabidopsis thaliana, Liriodendron tulipifer, Nicotiana tabaccum, Nicotiana glauca, Solanum tuberosum, Oryza sativ

³Gene source: Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Coriolus versicolor, Helianthus tuberosus

⁴Gene product: ACC-D = 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase, γ -ECS = γ -glutamylcysteine synthetase, GS = glutathione synthetase, YCF1 = yeast vacuolar transporter, MIR = mercuric ion reductase, OL = organomercurial lyase, PTR = pentaerythritol tetranitrate reductase, MnP = Mn-peroxidase, PS = phytochelatin synthase; CYPxxx = cytochrome P450 enzyme.

⁵Observed Effect: A = accumulation, D = degradation, R = removal of contaminant from media, T = tolerance, V = volatilization.

⁶Medium: PRMV = Pro-mix and vermiculite, HYDR = hydroponics (liquid medium), IM = initiation-maintenance medium, FT = plants grown in soil followed by foliar treatment of herbicide, MS = MS medium