Rhizobacteria and phytoremediation of heavy metals

Abstract

Soil, air and water pollution have become a global problem due to unprocessed emission of toxic heavy metals into the environment. The uncontrolled increase in release of hazardous heavy metals such as arsenic into the soil and water is mainly due to the untreated industrial waste. The accumulation of heavy metals causes damage not only to soil and water flora but also have deleterious effects on human health. The conventional methods such as thermal treatment, excavation and land fill, electro-reclamation and acid leaching used for degradation were time and cost consuming with release of toxic products. In nature, there are microorganisms residing in soil, which are capable of degrading toxic metals through phytoremediation. In phytoremediation, rhizobacteria play an important role. Rhizobacteria not only prevent contaminated soil's fertility but also enhance the growth of plants by release of special plant growth hormones. Phytohormones secreted by plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are major chemicals involved in metal uptake. This in situ and environment friendly method of bioremediation is cost effective and efficient. The advance techniques such as genetic engineering have been introduced to increase the spectrum and degrading capacity of rhizobacteria.

Keywords:

• phytoremediation
• rhizobacteria
• heavy metals
• water pollution
• microorganisms
• phytohormones

Disclosure statement

I confirm that none of the authors have any competing interests.