Design of microcosms for phytoremediation research

MERINI, LJ; CUADRADO, V; FLOCCO, CG; GIULIETTI, AM

San Carlos de Bariloche - Rio Negro

Congreso; XXXIX Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular (S.A.I.B.).; 2003

Phytoremediation is a technology based on the use of plants and associated microflora in order to remove, degrade or stabilize environmental contaminants. The relationship between soil, plants and microorganisms is extremely complex due to the intricate network of physical, chemical and biological interactions. For carrying out phytoremediation research, it is necessary to develop experimental systems, which allow shrinking this complex framework and simplifying the handling of such variables. Those scale systems, in which a portion of the universe under study is represented and the main experimental variables can be controlled, are called Microcosms. The design of microcosms for studies with plants and microbes is not an easy task: on one hand, it is necessary to have a system which permits to discriminate the effects of plants and microbes, which may require to work under aseptic conditions. On the other hand, the system must permit to carry out all the technical procedures required for an experimental setup, such as working with sterile soil, spiking of soil with the contaminants under study, watering, plant and soil sampling and other procedures, which need to be carried out without disturbing the system. In strict relation to plants, proper protocols for seed sterilization, data on nutritional requirements, as well as preliminary data on the tolerance of plant species to the xenobiotics under study are needed. All the mentioned issues have been considered for the design of appropriate microcosm systems. The design itself and its applications will be presented