ABSTRACT
The use of plants or plant products to restore or stabilize contaminated sites, collectively known as phytoremediation, takes advantage of the natural abilities of plants to take up, accumulate, store, or degrade organic and inorganic substances (McIntyre 2003). Phytoremediation is of public acceptance and is an aesthetically pleasant, solar-energy driven, passive technique that can be used to clean up sites with shallow, low to moderate levels of contamination (Schnoor et al. 1995; Macek et al. 2000; Kotrba et al. 2009). Phytoremediation is not only a growing science; it’s also a growing industry. This technique can be used along with or, in some cases, in place of mechanical cleanup methods (Kayser 1998). Phytoremediation possesses some particularly important advantages over bioremediation using microorganisms: the capability of autotrophic plants to produce high biomass with low nutriet requirements; the capacity to reduce the spread of pollutants through water and wind erosion; and a better public acceptance. Phytoremediation uses different plant processes and
23.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 415 23.2 Design of Transgenic Plants for Phytoremediation of Organic Pollutants ........................... 416
23.2.1 Phytoremediation of TCE and Aliphatic Pollutants ................................................. 416 23.2.2 Phytoremediation of TNT and RDX Explosives ...................................................... 417 23.2.3 Phytoremediation of Herbicides and Pesticides ........................................................ 417 23.2.4 Phytoremediation of Chlorocatechol ........................................................................ 418 23.2.5 Phytoremediation of Phenol and Pentachlorophenol ................................................ 418 23.2.6 Phytoremediation of Polychlorinated Biphenyls ...................................................... 418 23.2.7 Phytoremediation of Toluene .................................................................................... 418
23.3 Design of Transgenic Plants for Phytoremediation of Inorganic Pollutants......................... 419 23.4 Conclusions and Future Prospects ........................................................................................ 421 References ...................................................................................................................................... 422
mechanisms normally involved in the accumulation, complexation, volatilization, and degradation of organic and inorganic pollutants (Macek et al. 2000). Plants also produce various bene—cial root exudates which support the proliferation of soil micro¬ora, participating in remediation, especially at the rhizosphere, as well as speci—c chelating agents mobilizing elements in bioavailable forms (Kotrba et al. 2009, 2011).
