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Rhizoremediation: A Pragmatic Approach for Remediation of Heavy Metal-Contaminated Soil

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Book cover Toxicity of Heavy Metals to Legumes and Bioremediation

Abstract

Soil pollution is the primary source that transmits pollutants like heavy metals from environment to living organisms. From soil, plants adsorb and accumulate heavy metals. Through the food chain, heavy metals enter the animal kingdom including humans and cause health risks. Few physicochemical and phytoremediation approaches have been proved effective in removing heavy metals from contaminated soils. However, soil characteristics and recycling of soil constituents have made their practicability questionable. One pragmatic way to reduce the deleterious effect of heavy metals in soil is rhizoremediation, in which plant–microbe interaction is explored for remediation purposes. In this strategy, the plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) either accumulate or detoxify the heavy metals and thereby prevent the uptake and accumulation of heavy metals in plants. In addition, PGPRs act as biofertilizer that enhance the crop yields in different ecological niches. In this chapter, rhizoremediation strategy is described and portrayed as the pragmatic way for remediation of heavy metals in soil.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biocentre, University of Cologne, Cologne, 50674, Germany

    Velmurugan Ganesan

  2. Department of Molecular Biology, School of Biological Sciences, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, 625021, India

    Velmurugan Ganesan

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  1. Velmurugan Ganesan
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Correspondence to Velmurugan Ganesan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fac. Agricultural Sciences, Dept. Agricultural Microbiology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, 202002, India

    Almas Zaidi

  2. , Department of Biological Sciences, Crescent University, College of Natural, Abeokuta, Ogun, Nigeria

    Parvaze Ahmad Wani

  3. Fac. Agricultural Sciences, Dept. Agricultural Microbiology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, 202002, India

    Mohammad Saghir Khan

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Ganesan, V. (2012). Rhizoremediation: A Pragmatic Approach for Remediation of Heavy Metal-Contaminated Soil. In: Zaidi, A., Wani, P., Khan, M. (eds) Toxicity of Heavy Metals to Legumes and Bioremediation. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-0730-0_9

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