Abstract
Phytoremediation is a cost-effective and sustainable technology used to clean up pollutants from soils and waters through the use of plant species. Indeed, plants are naturally capable of absorbing metals and degrading organic molecules. However, in several cases, the presence of contaminants causes plant suffering and limited growth. In such situations, thanks to the production of specific root exudates, plants can engage the most suitable bacteria able to support their growth according to the particular environmental stress. These plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) may facilitate plant growth and development with several beneficial effects, even more evident when plants are grown in critical environmental conditions, such as the presence of toxic contaminants. For instance, PGPR may alleviate metal phytotoxicity by altering metal bioavailability in soil and increasing metal translocation within the plant. Since many of the PGPR are also hydrocarbon oxidizers, they are also able to support and enhance plant biodegradation activity. Besides, PGPR in agriculture can be an excellent support to counter the devastating effects of abiotic stress, such as excessive salinity and drought, replacing expensive inorganic fertilizers that hurt the environment. A better and in-depth understanding of the function and interactions of plants and associated microorganisms directly in the matrix of interest, especially in the presence of persistent contamination, could provide new opportunities for phytoremediation.
Highlights
The soil is a valuable and non-renewable ecological system, it has always been subject to widespread degradation due to anthropic activities
Siderophores produced by Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) have a very high affinity for iron and can sequester even small amounts of that element [56]
The increase in the level of ethylene leads to an inhibitory response to the production of IAA, which inhibits the positive effect on plant growth
Summary
The soil is a valuable and non-renewable ecological system, it has always been subject to widespread degradation due to anthropic activities. Plants select most of the degradative and growth-promoting microorganisms (PGPR) from the rhizospheric soil [23,37] by producing specific exudates in the presence of contaminating molecules to favor the microbiome having the necessary enzymes [38]. Another recent study concerning a remediation intervention of sediment contaminated by hydrocarbons shows how the plants have exerted a species-specific pressure on the structure of the rhizosphere’s microbial communities, highlighting its selectivity.
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