PBIO 4000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon, Phytoremediation, Rhizosphere

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Plant Biology
• Course: PBIO 4000
• Professor: Paul Goodwin

Document Summary

Phytoremediaion: use of plants (trees, shrubs, grasses & aquaic plants) & their associated microorganisms to remove, degrade or isolate toxic substances from the environment. Substances that may be subjected to phytoremediaion = metals, metalloids, inorganic compounds, polycyclic aromaic hydrocarbons (pahs), etc. Phytodegradaion: organic contaminants are degraded (metabolized) or mineralized inside plant cells by speciic enzymes (populus species & myriophyllium spicatum) Phytostabilizaion: contaminants, organic or inorganic, are incorporated into the lignin of the cell wall of root cells or into humus. Harvesing the growing plants is not made. Does not remove the pollutant, just immobilizes, concentrates & contains them within a living system. Disadvantage = the contaminant remains in the soil. Phytovolailizaion: the plants absorb, convert into non-toxic forms & volailize certain metals / metalloids & then release them into the atmosphere. Phytoextracion: uptake of bioavailable metals, transfer from roots to shoots, accumulaion in shoots, harvest of shoots, biomass can be reduced for disposal or use metals.