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Exploiting Nitrogen-Fixing Rhizobial Symbionts Genetic Resources for Improving Phytoremediation of Contaminated Soils

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Enhancing Cleanup of Environmental Pollutants

Abstract

Rhizobia are one of the most relevant components of the plant-associated microbiota. They are found both in soil and associated as commensals or symbionts with several plant taxa. In particular, with leguminous plants, they establish a symbiotic association, which allow the bacteria to express the enzyme nitrogenase responsible for the reduction of atmospheric dinitrogen. Consequently, rhizobia allow host plants to colonize marginal lands and nitrogen-deficient soils, for instance, contaminated soils. The use of legume-rhizobial symbiosis for phytoremediation would allow increasing plant coverage (then phytostabilization) of contaminated areas, without the need of expensive nitrogen fertilization of the soil. Moreover, among host legumes, both pioneer plants (of for instance degraded lands) and crops (as alfalfa) are present, which allow an easy implementation of agronomical practices. Finally, the large genomic and phenotypic diversity of rhizobia allows the selection of elite strains resistant to harsh soil conditions and the creation of potentially new strains with the desired features for assisting legume-based phytoremediation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Biology, Università di Firenze, Via Madonna del Piano 6, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy

    Alice Checcucci, Marco Bazzicalupo & Alessio Mengoni

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  1. Alice Checcucci
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  2. Marco Bazzicalupo
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  3. Alessio Mengoni
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Correspondence to Alessio Mengoni .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. CESAM-Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Naser A. Anjum

  2. Stress Physiology and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Centre for Biotechnology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, India

    Sarvajeet Singh Gill

  3. Amity Institute of Microbial Technology, Amity University, Noida, India

    Narendra Tuteja

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Checcucci, A., Bazzicalupo, M., Mengoni, A. (2017). Exploiting Nitrogen-Fixing Rhizobial Symbionts Genetic Resources for Improving Phytoremediation of Contaminated Soils. In: Anjum, N., Gill, S., Tuteja, N. (eds) Enhancing Cleanup of Environmental Pollutants. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55426-6_13

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