De rol van plant-geassocieerde bacteriën voor de verbetering van fytoremediatie van gemengde (cadmium-tolueen) verontreiniging door wilg

Abstract

Contamination of toxic metals and organic xenobiotics threatens the environment and human health. Phytoremediation is an eco-friendly remediation method, using plants and their associated microorganisms to deal with polluted soil and groundwater. Although phytoremediation is a promising method, it still faces some obstacles. These can be tackled by exploiting characteristics of plant-associated bacteria. This project aims to improve the phytoremediation potential of willow for a mixed (Cd ' toluene) contamination. In a first part, willow-associated bacteria were isolated and characterized genotypically/phenotypically. A selection of Cd-resistant bacteria, possessing the appropriate characteristics (siderophores, IAA, organic acids), were conjugated with a bacterium possessing the TOM plasmid coding for toluene degradation. Two resulting transconjugants were inoculated separately as well as together into willows, exposed to low or high concentrations of Cd and toluene. In a second part