Simple plant-based design strategies for volatile organic pollutants

摘要

Vegetation which enhances in-situ biodegradation of organic compounds can play a key role in the bioremediation of such contaminants in polluted soils and groundwater. Plants may act directly on some contaminants by degrading them, but their main effect is to enhance microbial populations in the rhizosphere. Mircobially mediated transformations are thus indirectly facilitated by root exudates which nourish the indigenous microorganisms. Plants may also be viewed as a solar driven pump-and-treat system which can contain a plume and reduce the spread of contaminated water.