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Toxics
Special Issues
Current Research on Phytoremediation of Contaminated Soil
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Current Research on Phytoremediation of Contaminated Soil

A special issue of Toxics (ISSN 2305-6304). This special issue belongs to the section "Toxicity Reduction and Environmental Remediation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 May 2023) | Viewed by 17002

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Agustin Probanza

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Plant Physiology Area, Department of Health and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, CEU San Pablo University, Spain
Interests: bioremediation of heavy metal contamination in soils; phytoremediation aided by PGPBs; heavy metal and antibiotic co-selection in soils; soil resistome
Dr. Marina Robas Mora

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Microbiology Area, Department of Health and Pharmaceutical Sciences , School of Pharmacy, CEU San Pablo University, Madrid, Spain
Interests: Microbiology; antibiotic resistance; microbial biotechnology; environmental microbiology; microbial communities

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soil pollution has been internationally recognized as a major threat to soil health, and it affects the soil’s ability to provide ecosystem services, including the production of safe and sufficient food as well as the support of important activities such as livestock rearing, forestry, or even urban. Soil pollution compromises the quality of the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe, and puts human and environmental health at risk. Most contaminants originate from human activities such as industrial processes and mining, poor waste management, unsustainable farming practices, and chemical spill accidents.

We are pleased to invite you to share your latest research that that centers the growing scientific interest in removing soil pollutants that limit land uses and put its integrity at risk. Although physicochemical remediation methods have been the most widely used, they are more aggressive toward the environment and more expensive than biotechnological approaches.

This Special Issue on “Current Research on Phytoremediation of Contaminated Soil” aims to highlighting the latest advances in strategies based on the use of plants to degrade, transform, or eliminate soil pollutants into harmless or less-toxic metabolic products.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Phytoremediation of (heavy) metal-polluted soils;
  • Phytoremediation of soils and waters contaminated with organic compounds such as pesticides;
  • Molecular and metabolic mechanisms of phytoremediation;
  • Amendments-enhanced phytoremediation of polluted soils;
  • Bacteria (PGPB)- and mycorrhiza (PGPR)-assisted phytoremediation;
  • Modelling of phytoremediation processes.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Agustín Probanza
Dr. Marina Robas
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • phytoremediation
  • heavy metals and metalloids
  • xenobiotics
  • phytoextraction
  • phytostabilization
  • phytovolatilization
  • phytorhizoremediation
  • plant-growth-promoting bacteria and mycorrhizae
  • soil amendments
  • hyperaccumulators

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 1482 KiB  
Article
Transcriptomic Sequencing Analysis on Key Genes and Pathways Regulating Cadmium (Cd) in Ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) under Different Cadmium Concentrations
by Bingjian Cui, Chuncheng Liu, Chao Hu and Shengxian Liang
Toxics 2022, 10(12), 734; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics10120734 - 28 Nov 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1595
Abstract
Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) is an important forage grass and has the potential to be used in phytoremediation, while little information is available regarding the transcriptome profiling of ryegrass leaves in response to high levels of Cd. To investigate and uncover the [...] Read more.
Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) is an important forage grass and has the potential to be used in phytoremediation, while little information is available regarding the transcriptome profiling of ryegrass leaves in response to high levels of Cd. To investigate and uncover the physiological responses and gene expression characteristics of perennial ryegrass under Cd stress, a pot experiment was performed to study the transcriptomic profiles of ryegrass with Cd-spiked soils. Transcriptome sequencing and comparative analysis were performed on the Illumina RNA-Seq platform at different concentrations of Cd-treated (0, 50 and 500 mg·kg−1 soil) ryegrass leaves and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were verified by RT-qPCR. The results show that high concentrations of Cd significantly inhibited the growth of ryegrass, while the lower concentrations (5 and 25 mg·kg−1) showed minor effects. The activity levels of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT) and malondialdehyde (MDA) increased in Cd-treated ryegrass leaves. We identified 1103 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and profiled the molecular regulatory pathways of ryegrass leaves with Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis in response to Cd stress. Cd stress significantly increased the membrane part, the metabolic process, the cellular process and catalytic activity. The numbers of unigenes related to signal transduction mechanisms, post-translational modification, replication, recombination and repair significantly increased. KEGG function annotation and enrichment analysis were performed based on DEGs with different treatments, indicating that the MAPK signaling pathway, the mRNA surveillance pathway and RNA transport were regulated significantly. Taken together, this study explores the effect of Cd stress on the growth physiology and gene level of ryegrass, thus highlighting significance of preventing and controlling heavy metal pollution in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Research on Phytoremediation of Contaminated Soil)
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13 pages, 3086 KiB  
Article
Effects of Simultaneous Application of Double Chelating Agents to Pb-Contaminated Soil on the Phytoremediation Efficiency of Indocalamus decorus Q. H. Dai and the Soil Environment
by Yixiong Yang, Mingyan Jiang, Jiarong Liao, Zhenghua Luo, Yedan Gao, Weiqian Yu, Rui He and Shihan Feng
Toxics 2022, 10(12), 713; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics10120713 - 22 Nov 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2073
Abstract
Recent studies have shown that the combined application of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and degradable chelating agents can enhance EDTA’s affinity for heavy metals and reduce its toxicity, but the effect of this combination on the phytoremediation remains largely unknown. This study evaluated and [...] Read more.
Recent studies have shown that the combined application of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and degradable chelating agents can enhance EDTA’s affinity for heavy metals and reduce its toxicity, but the effect of this combination on the phytoremediation remains largely unknown. This study evaluated and compared the effects of EDTA, nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), and glutamic acid-N,N-diacetic acid (GLDA) alone (E, N, G treatment), and in combination (EN and EG treatment), on the growth of dwarf bamboo (Indocalamus decorus Q. H. Dai), their phytoremediation efficiency, and the soil environment in Pb-contaminated soil. The results showed that treatment E significantly reduced the biomass, while treatments N and EN were more conducive to the distribution of aerial plant biomass. Except for treatment E, the total Pb accumulation in all treatments increased significantly, with the highest increase in treatment EN. For double chelating agents, the acid-soluble Pb concentrations in rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soils of treatments EN and EG were lower than those of treatment E, and the soil water-soluble Pb content after 20 days of treatment EN was significantly lower than that of treatment EG. Furthermore, chelating agents generally increased soil-enzyme activity in rhizosphere soil, indicating that chelating agents may promote plant heavy-metal uptake by changing the rhizosphere environment. In conclusion, treatment EN had the highest phytoremediation efficiency and significantly lower environmental risk than treatments E and EG, highlighting its massive potential for application in phytoremediation of Pb-contaminated soil when combined with I. decorus. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Research on Phytoremediation of Contaminated Soil)
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18 pages, 2000 KiB  
Article
Potassium and Silicon Synergistically Increase Cadmium and Lead Tolerance and Phytostabilization by Quinoa through Modulation of Physiological and Biochemical Attributes
by Hesham F. Alharby, Hassan S. Al-Zahrani and Ghulam Abbas
Toxics 2022, 10(4), 169; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics10040169 - 31 Mar 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2341
Abstract
Cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) contaminated soils have increased recently, resulting in limited crop productivity. The ameliorative role of potassium (K) and silicon (Si) is well established in plants under heavy metals stress; however, their combined role under the co-contamination of Cd and [...] Read more.
Cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) contaminated soils have increased recently, resulting in limited crop productivity. The ameliorative role of potassium (K) and silicon (Si) is well established in plants under heavy metals stress; however, their combined role under the co-contamination of Cd and Pb is not well understood. We hypothesized that the synergistic application of K and Si would be more effective than their sole treatment for increasing the Pb and Cd tolerance and phytostabilization potential of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.). In the current study, quinoa genotype ‘Puno’ was exposed to different concentrations of Cd (0, 200 µM), Pb (0, 500 µM) and their combination with or without 10 mM K and 1.0 mM Si supplementation. The results revealed that the combined stress of Cd and Pb was more detrimental than their separate application to plant biomass (66% less than the control), chlorophyll content and stomatal conductance. Higher accumulation of Pb and Cd led to a limited uptake of K and Si in quinoa plants. The supplementation of metal-stressed plants with 10 mM K and 1.0 mM Si, particularly in combination, caused a significant increase in the growth, stomatal conductance and pigment content of plants. The combined stress of Cd and Pb resulted in an overproduction of H2O2 (11-fold) and TBARS (13-fold) and a decrease in membrane stability (59%). Oxidative stress induced by metals was lessened by 8-fold, 9-fold, 7-fold and 11-fold increases in SOD, CAT, APX and POD activities, respectively, under the combined application of K and Si. It is concluded that the exogenous supply of K and Si in combination is very promising for increasing Cd and Pb tolerance and the phytostabilization potential of quinoa. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Research on Phytoremediation of Contaminated Soil)
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Review

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24 pages, 4148 KiB  
Review
Clean-Up of Heavy Metals from Contaminated Soil by Phytoremediation: A Multidisciplinary and Eco-Friendly Approach
by A. K. Priya, Muthiah Muruganandam, Sameh S. Ali and Michael Kornaros
Toxics 2023, 11(5), 422; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics11050422 - 2 May 2023
Cited by 61 | Viewed by 9350
Abstract
Pollution from heavy metals is one of the significant environmental concerns facing the world today. Human activities, such as mining, farming, and manufacturing plant operations, can allow them access to the environment. Heavy metals polluting soil can harm crops, change the food chain, [...] Read more.
Pollution from heavy metals is one of the significant environmental concerns facing the world today. Human activities, such as mining, farming, and manufacturing plant operations, can allow them access to the environment. Heavy metals polluting soil can harm crops, change the food chain, and endanger human health. Thus, the overarching goal for humans and the environment should be the avoidance of soil contamination by heavy metals. Heavy metals persistently present in the soil can be absorbed by plant tissues, enter the biosphere, and accumulate in the trophic levels of the food chain. The removal of heavy metals from contaminated soil can be accomplished using various physical, synthetic, and natural remediation techniques (both in situ and ex situ). The most controllable (affordable and eco-friendly) method among these is phytoremediation. The removal of heavy metal defilements can be accomplished using phytoremediation techniques, including phytoextraction, phytovolatilization, phytostabilization, and phytofiltration. The bioavailability of heavy metals in soil and the biomass of plants are the two main factors affecting how effectively phytoremediation works. The focus in phytoremediation and phytomining is on new metal hyperaccumulators with high efficiency. Subsequently, this study comprehensively examines different frameworks and biotechnological techniques available for eliminating heavy metals according to environmental guidelines, underscoring the difficulties and limitations of phytoremediation and its potential application in the clean-up of other harmful pollutants. Additionally, we share in-depth experience of safe removing the plants used in phytoremediation—a factor frequently overlooked when choosing plants to remove heavy metals in contaminated conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Research on Phytoremediation of Contaminated Soil)
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