‘Probiotics’ for Plants Boost Detox Abilities; Untreated Plants Overdose and Die

Scientists using a microbe that occurs naturally in eastern cottonwood trees have boosted the ability of two other plants – willow and lawn grass – to withstand the withering effects of the nasty industrial pollutant phenanthrene and take up 25 to 40 percent more of the pollutant than untreated plants.

The Doty lab conducts work to see how plants treated with naturally occurring endophytes might handle soils contaminated with a variety of pollutants. Graduate student Robert Tournay, for example, is interested in how the plants handle arsenic. M Levin/U of Washington

Scientists using a microbe that occurs naturally in eastern cottonwood trees have boosted the ability of two other plants – willow and lawn grass – to withstand the withering effects of the nasty industrial pollutant phenanthrene and take up 25 to 40 percent more of the pollutant than untreated plants.

The approach could avoid the regulatory hurdles imposed on transgenic plants – plants with genes inserted from or exchanged with other plant or animal species – that have shown promise in phytoremediation, the process of using plants to remove toxins from contaminated sites, according to Sharon Doty, associate professor of environmental and forestry sciences and corresponding author on a paper about the new work in Environmental Science & Technology.

“Our approach is much like when humans take probiotic pills or eat yogurt with probiotics to supplement the ‘good’ microbes in their guts,” she said.

Willow cuttings without the treatment ceased growing, lost leaves and died when grown in solution with phenanthrene. Those that were treated with microbes from eastern cottonwood trees thrived. Sharon Doty Lab/U of Washington