Soil Remediation and Plants

Soil Remediation and Plants PDF

Author: Khalid Hakeem

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2014-08-29

Total Pages: 752

ISBN-13: 0127999132

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The soil is being contaminated continuously by a large number of pollutants. Among them, heavy metals are an exclusive group of toxicants because they are stable and difficult to disseminate into non-toxic forms. The ever-increasing concentrations of such pollutants in the soil are considered serious threats toward everyone’s health and the environment. Many techniques are used to clean, eliminate, obliterate or sequester these hazardous pollutants from the soil. However, these techniques can be costly, labor intensive, and often disquieting. Phytoremediation is a simple, cost effective, environmental friendly and fast-emerging new technology for eliminating toxic heavy metals and other related soil pollutants. Soil Remediation and Plants provides a common platform for biologists, agricultural engineers, environmental scientists, and chemists, working with a common aim of finding sustainable solutions to various environmental issues. The book provides an overview of ecosystem approaches and phytotechnologies and their cumulative significance in relation to solving various environmental problems. Identifies the molecular mechanisms through which plants are able to remediate pollutants from the soil Examines the challenges and possibilities towards the various phytoremediation candidates Includes the latest research and ongoing progress in phytoremediation

Ion Channels and Plant Stress Responses

Ion Channels and Plant Stress Responses PDF

Author: Vadim Demidchik

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2010-03-15

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 3642104940

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Plants live in a constantly changing environment from which they cannot physically escape. Plants therefore need signalling and response mechanisms to adapt to new local conditions. The ef?cacy of such mechanisms underlies the plant performance during stress and therefore also impacts greatly on agricultural productivity. M- ulation of ion channel activity not only provides a means for rapid signal generation 2+ but also allows adjustment of cellular physiology. For example, Ca permeable ion 2+ channels can transduce environmental stimuli into Ca -encoded messages which can modify the gene expression. Furthermore, ion channel activity is essential to control cellular ion homeostasis that impacts on plant responses to drought, salinity, pathogens, nutrient de?ciency, heavy metals, xenobiotics and other stresses. This volume focuses on the crucial roles of different types of ion channel in plant stress responses. Functions of ion channels are discussed in the context of mechanisms to relay external and endogenous signals during stress and as mechanisms to regulate cellular ion homeostasis and enzymatic activities in the context of biotic and abiotic stress. The chapters presented cover cation and anion channels located in various cellular compartments and tissues.

Radioactivity in the Terrestrial Environment

Radioactivity in the Terrestrial Environment PDF

Author:

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2007-03-02

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 9780080474892

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The Radioactivity in the Environment Series addresses the key aspects of this socially important and complex interdisciplinary subject. Presented objectively and with the ultimate authority gained from the many contributions by the world's leading experts, the negative and positive consequences of having a radioactive world around us is documented and given perspective. In a world in which nuclear science is not only less popular than in the past, but also less extensively taught in universities and colleges, this book series will fill a significant educational gap. Radioactivity in the Terrestrial Environment presents an updated and critical review of designing, siting, constructing and demonstrating the safety and environmental impact of deep repositories for radioactive wastes. It is structured to provide a broad perspective of this multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary topic providing enough detail for a non-specialist to understand the fundamental principles involved. Contains extensive references to sources of more detailed information Provides a detailed summary of radioactivity in terrestrial ecosystems, providing a substantial and essential reference on the subject Discusses lesser-known sources of radiation exposure that provide useful information for those seeking to place environmental radioactivity into perspective

Plant Nutritional Genomics

Plant Nutritional Genomics PDF

Author: Martin R. Broadley

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2009-02-05

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 1405143762

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A ‘textbook’ plant typically comprises about 85% waterand 13.5% carbohydrates. The remaining fraction contains at least14 mineral elements, without which plants would be unable tocomplete their life cycles. Understanding plant nutrition and applying this knowledge topractical use is important for several reasons. First, anunderstanding of plant nutrition allows fertilisers to be used morewisely. Second, the nutritional composition of crops must betailored to meet the health of humans and livestock. Third, manyregions of the world are currently unsuitable for crop production,and an understanding of plant nutrition can be used to developstrategies either for the remediation of this land or for thecultivation of novel crops. That application of knowledge of plant nutrition can be achievedthrough genotypic or agronomic approaches. Genotypic approaches,based on crop selection and / or breeding (conventional or GM),have recently begun to benefit from technological advances,including the completion of plant genome sequencing projects. Thisbook provides an overview of how plant nutritional genomics,defined as the interaction between a plant's genome and itsnutritional characteristics, has developed in the light ofthese technological advances, and how this new knowledge mightusefully be applied. This is a book for researchers and professionals in plantmolecular genetics, biochemistry and physiology, in both theacademic and industrial sectors.

Radionuclide Contamination and Remediation Through Plants

Radionuclide Contamination and Remediation Through Plants PDF

Author: Dharmendra Kumar Gupta

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-07-14

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 3319076655

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This book focuses on the mechanistic (microscopic) understanding of radionuclide uptake by plants in contaminated soils and potential use of phytoremediation. The key features concern radionuclide toxicity in plants, how the radioactive materials are absorbed by plants, and how the plants cope with the toxic responses. The respective chapters examine soil classification, natural plant selection, speciation of actinides, kinetic modeling, and case studies on cesium uptake after radiation accidents. Radionuclide contaminants pose serious problems for biological systems, due to their chemical toxicity and radiological effects. The processes by which radionuclides can be incorporated into vegetation can either originate from activity interception by external plant surfaces (either directly from the atmosphere or from resuspended material), or through uptake of radionuclides via the root system. Subsequent transfer of toxic elements to the human food chain is a concrete danger. Therefore, the molecular mechanisms and genetic basis of transport into and within plants needs to be understood for two reasons: The effectiveness of radionuclide uptake into crop plants – so-called transfer coefficient – is a prerequisite for the calculation of dose due to the food path. On the other hand, efficient radionuclide transfer into plants can be made use of for decontamination of land – so-called phytoremediation, the direct use of living, green plants for in situ removal of pollutants from the environment or to reduce their concentrations to harmless levels.