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Abstract
A phyto-rhizoremediation system using corn and esparto fiber as rooting support to remediate degraded metal working fluids (dMWFs) has been developed in the present study. In order to improve the process, plants were inoculated at the root level with bacteria either individually, and with a consortium of strains. All strains used were able to grow with MWFs. The results show that this system significantly lowers the Chemical Oxygen Demand below legal limits within 5 days. However, results were only improved with the bacterial consortium. Despite the effectiveness of the phyto-rhizoremediation process, plants are damaged at the photosynthetic level according to the photosynthetic parameters measured, as well as at the ultrastructure of the vascular cylinder and the Bundle Sheath Cells. Interestingly, the bacterial inoculation protects against this damage. Therefore, it seems that that the inoculation with bacteria can protect the plants against these harmful effects.
Acknowledgement
This work was funded by Comunidad de Madrid grants S-0505/AMB/0321 and S- 2009/AMB/1511 (Microambiente-CM), by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation [grant CGL2010-15675, sub-programme BOS; grant FPU (Personal University Formation)] and by John Deere S.A Company. Gaiker Foundation (Vizcaya – España) is acknowledged for the use of the MBR.