Dear Colleagues,

Soil contamination has become a global threat, and therefore, remediation of polluted areas using efficient and sustainable technologies has become a priority worldwide. The use of microbial-assisted phytoremediation approaches to degrade, remove and/or contain contaminants has gaining momentum in the last decades. Rhizoremediation appears as one of the most promising and cost-effective methods for the remediation of contaminated areas. This strategy is focused on the ability of root-associated microorganisms to degrade organic pollutants and transform toxic metals. Root exudates, including organic acids, amino acids, sugars, proteins, alcohols, nucleotides, flavanones, enzymes, and phenolic compounds, stimulate the survival and activity of rhizosphere microbial communities, resulting in a more efficient transformation/degradation of environmental pollutants.

Rhizoremediation contributes to remove from soil a plethora of contaminants such as metals/metalloids, pesticides, herbicides, petroleum products, fly ash, pharmaceuticals, among others.

In the case of metal(loid)s, microorganisms can reduce their toxicity by converting toxic metal(loid)s into non-toxic forms; by increasing their bioavailability enhancing the uptake by plants; or by in situ metal(loid)s stabilization. In addition, there are several tools that may improve the success and efficiency of rhizoremediation, including the biostimulation (e.g addition of organic/inorganic amendments and biosurfactants to induce microbial activity and change soil physicochemical properties), bioaugmentation (e.g. inoculation of microorganisms with specific catabolic ability and/or plant growth promoting traits) and rhizoengineering (e.g. use of genetically modified plants with higher ability to produce root exudates).

The submissions should cover the latest research related to metal(loid)s rhizoremediation. Special emphasis should be also given to new insights regarding the single and/or combined use of soil amendments, bioinoculants, and naturally/genetically adapted plants to enhance the success of rhizoremediation. Additionally, field studies demonstrating the transferability of greenhouse results are clearly insufficient, and therefore required to support the use of rhizoremediation by stakeholders.

Dr. Sofia Isabel Almeida Pereira
Prof. Dr. Ali Boularbah
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• metals
• metalloids
• microorganisms
• soil remediation
• soil health
• inorganic pollutants
• rhizodegradation
• microbial communities
• phytodegradation
• plant growth promoting rhizobacteria
• mycorrhizal fungi