The role of plants in the fate and transport of contaminants through the environment has long been underappreciated. It was not until the 1990s with the advent of “phytoremediation” that plant science really became a part of our research papers and the curricula of environmental chemists and engineers. In this paper, we will trace the history of how plant science has evolved in our field to become an important strategy for cleaning-up contaminated sites and for tracking pollutants through the environment. Plants can harbor microbes that degrade organic pollutants. Furthermore, plants have catabolic enzyme systems, which can detoxify, biodegrade, metabolize, or volatilize the chemicals by themselves. Microbes live in, on, and around plants. They seek food that plants provide as primary producers of organic carbon through photosynthesis. Microbes play many roles in the rhizosphere including as plant protectorates, plant pathogens, and purveyors of intermediate metabolism of small organic molecules. Thus, plants may be viewed as <i>metaorganisms</i> with a microbiome similar to humans. Plants have co-evolved with microbes through eons, while microbes utilize the organic substrates (plant exudates) and, in return, supply phytohormones or nutrients for the plants. The rhizosphere is an opportune location to “bioprospect” for microbes that can be used in bioaugmentation.

<b>Award Address</b> (ACS Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology sponsored by the ACS and the ACS Division of Environmental Chemistry). Bringing plant science into environmental chemistry and engineering

2019 Spring National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.

Award Address (ACS Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology sponsored by the ACS and the ACS Division of Environmental Chemistry). Bringing plant science into environmental chemistry and engineering