Transgenic plants and hairy roots: exploiting the potential of plant species to remediate contaminants

SABRINA IBAÑEZ; MELINA TALANO; ONTAÑON ORNELLA; SUMAN JACHYM; MARÍA INÉS MEDINA; TOMAS MACEK

NEW BIOTECHNOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2016 vol. 33 p. 625 - 635

1871-6784

Phytoremediation has emerged as an attractive methodology to deal with environmental pollution,which is a serious worldwide problem. Although important advances have been made in this researchfield, there are still some drawbacks to become a widely used practice, such as the limited plant?smetabolic rate and their difficulty to break down several organic compounds or to tolerate/accumulateheavy metals. However, biotechnology has opened new gateways in phytoremediation research byoffering the opportunity for direct gene transfer to enhance plant capabilities for environmentalcleanup. In this context, hairy roots (HRs) have emerged as an interesting model system to explore thepotential of plants to remove inorganic and organic pollutants. Besides, their use in rhizoremediationstudies has also been explored. In this minireview we will discuss the most recent