Progress in the degradation of environmental organic pollutants by plant-microorganism combination

Abstract:

The excessive accumulation of organic pollutants in the environment forms great threat to ecosystem and human health. In recent years, many researches have constantly showed prominent effects of the plant-microorganism combination on the degradation of environmental organic pollutants. It has been widely accepted that the plant-microorganism combination generally exists inside the plant and in the rhizosphere, which provides precondition to degrading the organic pollutants and lays foundation for practical application of environmental remediation. In this review, we summarized the research progress based on three aspects of the plant-microorganism combination, including plant-endophyte, plant-mycorrhiza and plant-rhizospheric microorganism. We analyzed the function of the plant-microorganism combination during the process of organic pollutants biodegradation and discussed the degradation mechanisms. However, there are still challenges to the study of the plant-microorganism combination degradation of environmental organic pollutants, the underlying mechanisms and ecological effects are unclear yet. Therefore, every effort should be made to further clarify the degradation mechanisms, as well as to enhance practical application, thus contributing to the ecosystem management and sustainable development.

Key words:Plant-microorganism combination, Organic pollutants, Biodegradation, Environmental remediation