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Endophytes have been isolated from a large diversity of plants and have been shown to enhance the remediation efficiency of plants, but little information is available on the influence of endophytic bacteria on phytoremediation of widespread environmental contaminants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In this study we selected a naturally occurring endophyte for its combined ability to colonize plant roots and degrade phenanthrene in vitro. Inoculation of two different willow clones and a grass with Pseudomonas putida PD1 was found to promote root and shoot growth and protect the plants against the phytotoxic effects of phenanthrene. There was an additional 25-40% removal of phenanthrene from soil by the willow and grasses, respectively inoculated with PD1 when compared to the uninoculated controls. Fluorescent microscopy using fluorescent protein tagging of PD1 confirmed the presence of bacteria inside the root tissue. Inoculation of willows with PD1 consistently improved the growth and health when grown in hydroponic systems with high concentrations of phenanthrene. To our knowledge this is the first time that the inoculation of willow plants has been shown to improve the degradation of PAHs and improve the health of the host plants, demonstrating potential wide benefit to the field of natural endophyte-assisted phytoremediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to the article "Degradation, Phytoprotection and Phytoremediation of Phenanthrene by Endophyte Pseudomonas putida, PD1" which was published in the November 7, 2014 issue is presented.

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a widespread environmental pollutant common in groundwater plumes associated with industrial manufacturing areas. We had previously isolated and characterized a natural bacterial endophyte, Enterobacter sp. strain PDN3, of poplar trees, that rapidly metabolizes TCE, releasing chloride ion. We now report findings from a successful three-year field trial of endophyte-assisted phytoremediation on the Middlefield-Ellis-Whisman Superfund Study Area TCE plume in the Silicon Valley of California. The inoculated poplar trees exhibited increased growth and reduced TCE phytotoxic effects with a 32% increase in trunk diameter compared to mock-inoculated control poplar trees. The inoculated trees excreted 50% more chloride ion into the rhizosphere, indicative of increased TCE metabolism in planta. Data from tree core analysis of the tree tissues provided further supporting evidence of the enhanced rate of degradation of the chlorinated solvents in the inoculated trees. Test well groundwater analyses demonstrated a marked decrease in concentration of TCE and its derivatives from the tree-associated groundwater plume. The concentration of TCE decreased from 300 μg/L upstream of the planted area to less than 5 μg/L downstream of the planted area. TCE derivatives were similarly removed with cis-1,2-dichloroethene decreasing from 160 μg/L to less than 5 μg/L and trans-1,2-dichloroethene decreasing from 3.1 μg/L to less than 0.5 μg/L downstream of the planted trees. 1,1-dichloroethene and vinyl chloride both decreased from 6.8 and 0.77 μg/L, respectively, to below the reporting limit of 0.5 μg/L providing strong evidence of the ability of the endophytic inoculated trees to effectively remove TCE from affected groundwater. The combination of native pollutant-degrading endophytic bacteria and fast-growing poplar tree systems offers a readily deployable, cost-effective approach for the degradation of TCE, and may help mitigate potential transfer up the food chain, volatilization to the atmosphere, as well as direct phytotoxic impacts to plants used in this type of phytoremediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]