Plant Tissue Culture of Fast-Growing Trees for Phytoremediation Research

Abstract

The ability of plants to remove pollutants from the environment is currently used in a simple and low-cost cleaning technology known as phytoremediation. Unfortunately, little is known about the metabolic pathways involved in the transformation of xenobiotic compounds and the ability of certain plants to tolerate, detoxify, and store high concentrations of heavy metals. Plant cell and tissue culture is considered an important tool for fundamental studies that provide information about the plant-contaminant relationships, help to predict plant responses to environmental contaminants, and improve the design of plants with enhanced characteristics for phytoremediation. Callus, cell suspensions, hairy roots, and shoot multiplication cultures are used to study the interactions between plants and pollutants under aseptic conditions. Many plant species have an inherent ability to accumulate/metabolize a variety of pollutants, but they normally produce little biomass. However, fast-growing trees are excellent candidates for phytoremediation because of their rapid growth, extensive root system, and high water uptake. This chapter outlines the in vitro plant production of both somaclonal variants and transgenic plants of Populus spp. that exhibit high tolerance to heavy metals.

Laboratory Microprobe X-Ray Fluorescence in Plant Science: Emerging Applications and Case Studies

“…There is much expectation that fast growing plants might be used for bioremediation of soils ( Couselo et al, 2012 ). Due to its high biomass rate production and stable organic tissue, these species may act as sinks extracting potentially toxic element from the soil.…”

“…This heterogeneous distribution in the leaf blade may suggest the presence tissue compartmentation of Pb. These maps can help to explain the mechanisms of tolerance presented by the Eucalyptus shoots ( Nedelkoska and Doran, 2000 ), an important feature for maintaining growth, for the detoxification, and bioremediation process ( Hall, 2002 ; Couselo et al, 2012 ).…”

Floating Aquatic Macrophytes in Wastewater Treatment: Toward a Circular Economy

“…As a result, few plant species with remediating potential have been identified so far [38]. The recommended macrophytes are expected to possess some additional qualifications, such as (1) the capability to extract and accumulate, transform, degrade or volatilize contaminants; (2) high growth rates; (3) the simultaneous remediation of multiple pollutants; (4) dense root and shoot systems to support bioaccumulation and biosorption; (5) resistance to pests and disease; and (6) unattractiveness to animals to ensure the cessation of toxicant transformation through the food chain [39][40][41][42].…”

Potential use of Pennisetum purpureum for phytoremediation and bioenergy production: a mini review

“…A good phytoremediator species should have fast growth rates and high levels of biomass to accumulate large amounts of the contaminants in their systems. Fast-growing plants will make an exceptional phytoremediator due to their extensive root system, rapid growth and high water uptake (Couselo et al, 2012). Pennisetum purpureum, with its perennial nature, is well known as one of the fastest-growing plants in the world, and has high biomass yield (Karlsson and Vasil 1986;Cutts et al, 2011).…”