Genetically Modified Plants Designed for Phytoremediation of Toxic Organic and Inorganic Contaminants

The use of plants or plant products to restore or stabilize contaminated sites, collectively known as phytoremediation, takes advantage of the natural abilities of plants to take up, accumulate, store, or degrade organic and inorganic substances (McIntyre 2003). Phytoremediation is of public acceptance and is an aesthetically pleasant, solar-energy driven, passive technique that can be used to clean up sites with shallow, low to moderate levels of contamination (Schnoor et al. 1995; Macek et al. 2000; Kotrba et al. 2009). Phytoremediation is not only a growing science; it’s also a growing industry. This technique can be used along with or, in some cases, in place of mechanical cleanup methods (Kayser 1998). Phytoremediation possesses some particularly important advantages over bioremediation using microorganisms: the capability of autotrophic plants to produce high biomass with low nutriet requirements; the capacity to reduce the spread of pollutants through water and wind erosion; and a better public acceptance. Phytoremediation uses different plant processes and CONTENTS