Environmental Perspectives of Plant-Microbe Nexus for Soil and Water Remediation

Abstract

Recently, the concerns about soil and water pollution have significantly enlarged due to the vast increase in urbanization, industrialization, population growth, and fossil fuel utilization. Exposure to high levels of pollution causes serious threats to ecological systems, natural environment, human health, and food chains. In this context, effective and promising treatment methods have been developed to avoid the deterioration of the soil and water systems. Environmental remediation has been introduced to overcome the drawbacks of conventional physical, chemical, and biological treatment processes. In this chapter, various remediation techniques including phytoremediation, bioremediation, phycoremediation, and mycoremediation are reviewed. Several forms of phytoremediation, e.g., phytodegradation, phytotransformation, phytoextraction, phytovolatilization, phytostabilization, phytofiltration, phytodesalination, and phytomining, that explore the involvement of plant-based technology for toxicants and pollutants removal are discussed. The activities of microbial species during the intrinsic remediation and bioaugmentation processes are demonstrated. The assemblage of rhizobacteria in the plant root system to detoxify contaminated soils and transform hazardous elements into harmless substances is also discussed. Environmental aspects related to microalgal cultures and fungal species for water remediation are demonstrated. The study objectives are reviewed in terms of previous investigations reported in the literature. Recommendations for future works in the field of environmental remediation are suggested.