Articles

Phytoremediation is a green, economically efficient, and sustainable approach of reducing environmental pollution by use of plants and the microorganisms associated with them. Plants and soil microbiota interaction will improve uptake, transformation, and sequestration of the toxic contaminants, such as heavy metals, organic, and emerging chemical hazards. Microbial associates like plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), endophytes and mycorrhizal fungi enhance the efficacy of phytoremediation through nutrient acquisition, synthesis of bioavailable metabolites as well as regulation of plant stress responses. This synergy hastens the degradation of contaminants besides restoring the ecological balance and soil health. Recent developments in omics technologies and molecular ecology have increased the knowledge on the genetic and biochemical pathways used by plants to interact with microbes in polluted environments. But still, there is a problem of field-scale implementation, the stability of microbes and the variability of the environment. Further studies are required to combine microbial consortia engineering, systems biology and genetic engineering of hyperaccumulator species into increased phytoremediation capabilities. In general, the idea of using plant-microbe synergies can be seen as a promising direction in the process of achieving sustainable and resilient clean-up methods in the environment.