title: Plants disarm soil: engineering plants for the phytoremediation of explosives.
abstract: Explosives are toxic, recalcitrant to degradation and contaminate large areas of land and ground water. Remediation of these synthetic compounds is difficult and an enormous logistical task. Phytoremediation is a technique that offers an environmentally friendly, low-cost alternative to current remediation techniques; however, this approach is hindered by the low inherent metabolic abilities of plants towards these xenobiotic compounds and the phytotoxicity of these compounds. As a result of recent advances in our knowledge of the biochemistry underlying endogenous plant detoxification systems and the use of genetic engineering to combine bacterial explosives-detoxifying genes with the phytoremediatory benefits of plants, this technology is now poised for testing in the field and in a wider range of plants, such as poplar and perennial grasses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of York, York, YO10 5YW, UK.
authors.forename: Elizabeth L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Rylott
authors.forename: Neil C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Bruce
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D053834:Explosive Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D024861:Genetic Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*
chemical_list: D053834:Explosive Agents; D012989:Soil Pollutants