Plant-bacteria interactions in the removal of pollutants.

Rhizoremediation surged in popularity among scientist as an attractive strategy because plant roots provide a rich niche for bacteria to grow at the expense of root exudates; in turn bacteria act as biocatalysts that remove pollutants. The complexity of the beneficial relationships between plants and bacteria is an exciting area of research which has shown steady progress in the last decade. Despite the advances in the field, specific aspects of the interactions between contaminant-degrading rhizobacteria and plants are still unknown; including the expression of degradation genes in the rhizosphere, the influence of horizontal gene transfer in rhizoremediation, and the possibilities of the selection of specific bacteria by plant rhizosphere. We discuss the recent advances in our understanding of the plant-bacteria interactions during rhizoremediation of organic compounds.