Setting up of scale systems for phytoremediation assays

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

Valparaiso - Chile

Congreso; 12th International Biotechnology Symposium and Exhibition.; 2004

Phytoremediation implies the use of plants and the microflora associated to its roots system for the environmental decontamination. Nowadays, an increasing number of phytoremediation field protocols are being applied to solve many contamination problems, since this technology posses low environmental impact as well as low operational cost. Due to the extremely complex relationship between plants and microorganisms and the intricate network of physical, chemical and biological interaction, it is necessary to develop experimental systems, which allow to shrink this framework and simplify the handling of such variables. Those scale system, 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 a microcosm for phytoremediation research should permit to discriminate the effect of plants, microbes and abiotic factors. At the same time, it should allow to carry out all the technical procedures required for the experimental setup, such as working with sterile soil, spiking of soil with the contaminants under study, watering and plant and soil sampling. Indeed, many times those procedures have to be carried out without disturbing the system and keeping sterile condition. In strict relation to the plants, proper protocols for seed sterilization, data on nutritional requirements, as well as previous data on tolerance of plant species to the xenobióticos under study are needed. All the mentioned issues have been considered for the design of appropriate microcosms system. The design itself and its applications will be presented.