Ecology and Functional Potential of Endophytes in Bioremediation: A Molecular Perspective
Hazardous waste sites around the world result from the manufacturing, storage, use, or disposal of compounds such as petroleum hydrocarbons, nitroaromatics, organohalogens, pesticides, and metals. Traditional remediation options are expensive and environm
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Sohail Yousaf, Muhammad Afzal, Mariam Anees, Riffat Naseem Malik, and Andrea Campisano
Abstract
Hazardous waste sites around the world result from the manufacturing, storage, use, or disposal of compounds such as petroleum hydrocarbons, nitroaromatics, organohalogens, pesticides, and metals. Traditional remediation options are expensive and environmentally invasive. In last two decades, bioremediation has emerged as a more suitable alternative, mainly for the remediation of large polluted sites. Endophytic bacteria and fungi have been the subject of considerable study to explore their potential for improving the remediation of polluted environments. In case of phytoremediation of inorganic pollutants, endophytic bacteria can reduce the phytotoxicity and increase the mobilization and accumulation of heavy metals in aboveground plant biomass. The competency of several endophytes to degrade organic pollutants and their resistance to heavy metals probably originates from their exposure to these compounds, when present in the plant/soil niche. A wide range of molecular techniques have been applied to illustrate the ecology, diversity, composition, and role of endophytes in bioremediation. Fingerprinting techniques such as terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP), denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), real-time PCR, microarrays, and metagenomics are being used to characterize the metal-resistant and organic pollutant-degrading endophytes.
S. Yousaf (*) • R.N. Malik Department of Environmental Sciences, Quaid-iAzam University, Islamabad, Pakistan e-mail: [email protected] M. Afzal Environmental Biotechnology, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad, Pakistan
M. Anees Department of Biochemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan A. Campisano Sustainable Agro-ecosystems and Bioresources Department, IASMA Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38010 San Michele all’Adige (TN), Italy
V.C. Verma and A.C. Gange (eds.), Advances in Endophytic Research, DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-1575-2_16, © Springer India 2014
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Introduction
Contamination of soil, surface and groundwater, and ultimately food with organic and inorganic contaminants (such as petroleum hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides, salts, and heavy metals) is becoming one of the sternest environmental problems all over the world. Higher levels of these toxic contaminants in the environment have been associated with human health risks including cancer (McGuinness and Dowling 2009). Substantial efforts are being made to remediate contaminated environments. In the light of the high cost of site remediation, it is important to develop and refine innovative, low-cost, and environment-friendly methods for cleaning polluted environments. During the last two decades, bioremediation has emerged as a potential tool to clean the contaminated environments. The remediation of polluted soil and water by the use of bio
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