Environmental phytoremediation: plants and microorganisms at work

Human industry, farming, and waste disposal practices have resulted in the large-scale contamination of soil and water with organic compounds and heavy metals, with detrimental effects on ecosystems and human health. Conventional soil remediation methods are expensiveand often involve the storage of soil in designated areas, postponing rather than solving the problem. In the last decade, the pressing need to find alternative methods has highlighted the scientific and economic benefits of plants and their associated microorganisms, which can beused for the reclamation of polluted soil and water (Meagher, 2000). This is an elegant and low-cost approach for the decontamination of polluted sites and has been greeted with a high degree of public acceptance, therefore prompting research into the use of phytoremediation technology to address the large areas of land and water currently affected (reviewed by Krämer,2005; Vangronsveld et al., 2009; Lee, 2013). This Frontiers in Plant Science research topic provides a snapshot of current research into the application of environmental phytoremediation strategies.