Soil Plant Microbe Interactions in Phytoremediation

Abstract

Use of vegetation in remediation of soil and groundwater contaminated with organic materials is a promising, cost-effective alternative to the more established treatment methods used at hazardous waste sites. Plants can transpire groundwater and lower the concentrations of organic contaminants in soils and groundwater. The evapotranspirational activity of vegetation acts as a natural pump-and-treatment system. Plants have shown the capacity to absorb, uptake, and convert organic contaminants to less toxic metabolites in laboratory and field studies. Vegetation also plays a significant role in bioremediation. This is because plants stimulate the degradation of organic compounds in the rhizosphere by the release of root exudates and enzymes. Success of any plant-based remediation system depends on the interaction of plants with the surrounding soil medium and the contaminant. Knowing the fate of an organic contaminant in the soil can help determine the persistence of the contaminant in the terrestrial environment and ultimately the success of any remediation method. Also, an understanding is needed of soil-plant-microbe interactions that determine the fate of organic contaminants in the soil-plant ecosystem. This paper presents an overview of the subsurface environment and fate and transport processes of organic contaminants as affected by soil-plant-microbe interactions.