Phytoremediation: Using Plants To Combat a Stressed Environment

Phytoremediation: Using Plants To Combat a Stressed Environment

Plants have long been adapting the traits necessary to survive in a wide variety of stressful environments – including areas of high salinity, extreme heat, drought, and freezing temperatures - but now, using genetic modification, scientists have been able to expand the role that plants play in the environment. With the advent of transgenic biotechnology, plants can be enhanced with qualities that not only allow them to flourish in stressed environments but also allow them to be used in the effort to alleviate certain environmental stresses. Phytoremediators, plants that are used to clean-up soil in contaminated areas, can remove heavy metals, arsenic, petroleum, TNT, and many other elements from toxic soil. This paper will review the strategies used to create transgenic phytoremediators, the role these plants play in combating a stressed environment, and the advantages and disadvantages of using plants for bioremediation. Examples of emerging technology in the ever-evolving field of phytoremediation will also be discussed.

Phytoremediation is characterized by the use of vegetative species for in situ treatment of land areas polluted by a variety of hazardous substances. (Sykes et al., 1999) Plants are especially useful in the process of bioremediation because they prevent erosion and leaching which can spread the toxic substances to surrounding areas. (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2001) There are several types of phytoremediation being used today. These include phytoextraction, which relies upon a plant’s natural ability to take up certain substances (such as heavy metals) from the environment and sequester them in their c...

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