We are about to start a new experiment on rhizoremediation of contaminated soil. Brassica juncea plants will be grown, under controlled Phytotron conditions, in soil simultaneously contaminated with metals and organic compounds. Different amendments (chicken manure, horse manure, etc.) will be used to both facilitate plant growth and stimulate the rate of contaminant degradation by rhizosphere microbial communities (i.e., bioremediation through biostimulation). In addition, bacterial strains isolated from the contaminated soil will be initially selected according to their (i) contaminant degradation potential and (ii) plant growth-promoting traits. A consortium of these strains will then be used for bioaugmentation purposes. Finally, apart from the reduction in the concentrations of the target contaminants, we will study the recovery of soil health, using a variety of physicochemical and microbial indicators of soil functioning, as a result of the application of the abovementioned rhizoremediation strategies.
