Bacteria plus urea fertilizer turbocharges grass at pulling toxins from soil
Huang C, Dai X, Zheng H, Chen X, Huang J
Phytoremediation
If your community sits near a former industrial site or nuclear facility, this kind of grass-based cleanup could one day replace the excavators and dump trucks that currently tear up neighborhoods during soil remediation.
Scientists were trying to figure out the best way to use a fast-growing grass to clean up soil contaminated with strontium, a toxic heavy metal. They discovered that adding two specific soil bacteria alongside a common fertilizer (urea) made the grass absorb over 67% more strontium than untreated plots. Harvesting at the right time also mattered: waiting about 135 days after planting gave the best yearly cleanup results.
Key Findings
Harvesting at 135 days post-sowing maximized annual strontium accumulation at 21.66 mg/kg under 200 mg/kg soil contamination.
Microbial inoculation with Deinococcus radiodurans and Bacillus cereus (2:1 ratio) increased plant-available strontium in the root zone by 64.91%.
Combining the microbial mix with urea fertilizer boosted strontium uptake by 67.45% versus untreated control and 40.09% versus microbes alone.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Researchers found that combining soil bacteria with urea fertilizer dramatically boosts sorghum-sudangrass's ability to pull radioactive strontium out of contaminated soil, offering a more practical and effective cleanup strategy for polluted land.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Improving strontium (Sr) phytoremediation efficiency in Sorghum bicolor × sudanense through nitrogen management and a microbial combination.
This study optimized a phytoremediation system using Sorghum bicolor × sudanense for strontium (Sr)-contaminated soil. We investigated three key factors: optimal harvest time, a microbial combinati...
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