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Rhizosphere Engineering for the Degradation of Recalcitrant Xenobiotic Contaminants from Agricultural Soils
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This review paper looks at how the zone around plant roots (called the rhizosphere) uses natural bacteria and fungi to break down stubborn pollutants in farm soil—things like pesticides, industrial chemicals, and even microplastics. This matters because these contaminants can build up in crops and eventually end up in our food, so harnessing these natural soil cleanup processes could mean safer produce and healthier soil for growing our food long-term. The authors summarize existing research on how this works rather than presenting new experiments, and point to future tools that could help farmers use these natural cleanup crews more effectively.
Rhizosphere is a dynamic interface between plant roots and soil which plays a key role in determining the fate of xenobiotic compounds in agricultural systems. Root exudates like sugars, amino acids, organic acids, and secondary metabolites affect the microbial communities of rhizosphere. Various bacteria (e.g., Pseudomonas , Bacillus ) and fungi (e.g., white-rot fungi, Trichoderma ) are useful in the degradation and transformation of recalcitrant xenobiotics. Chlorinated pesticides, organophosphates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), microplastics, and nanoplastics are recalcitrant pollutants that pose a threat to the health of ecosystems in terms of water quality, soil biota, and plant physiology as well as human health through bioaccumulation. The xenobiotic removal mechanisms involve a range of microbial metabolic mechanisms, plant-mediated conversion, enzymatic detoxification, and bio-sorption or bioaccumulation, which are affected by biogeochemical factors in soils including texture, moisture, and microbial competition. The analysis of microbial communities and metabolic pathways involved during rhizodegradation can be conducted by using advanced omics methods; the degradation of pollutants can be monitored using analytical methods, such as GC-MS and 16S rRNA sequencing. Such processes recover the soil fertility, increase the biodiversity and the productivity of crops. This chapter examines the interplay among rhizosphere ecology, microbial degradation mechanisms, environmental factors, and technological interventions, discussing their implications for sustainable agricultural management.
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