# Phytoremediation, Bioaugmentation, and the Plant Microbiome

## TL;DR

Phytoremediation uses plants and their microbes to clean up polluted soil and water, offering a green and cost-effective solution for environmental restoration.

## Contribution

The paper highlights future research directions in manipulating the plant microbiome to enhance phytoremediation.

## Key findings

- Phytoremediation has evolved as a powerful green technology for cleaning hazardous waste sites.
- Bioaugmentation and microbial community manipulation are promising future research areas in phytoremediation.
- Genetic modification and probiotics can be used to improve plant-microbe interactions for better remediation.

## Abstract

Understanding plant
biology and related microbial ecology as a
means to phytoremediate soil and groundwater contamination has broadened
and advanced the field of environmental engineering and science over
the past 30 years. Using plants to transform and degrade xenobiotic
organic pollutants delivers new methods for environmental restoration.
Manipulations of the plant microbiome through bioaugmentation, endophytes,
adding various growth factors, genetic modification, and/or selecting
the microbial community via insertion of probiotics or phages for
gene transfer are future areas of research to further expand this
green, cost-effective, aesthetically pleasing technology—phytoremediation.

A perspective on phytoremediation, its
promise, and how
it developed into a powerful green technology for cleaning hazardous
waste sites.