Main description:

Heavy-metal contamination is one of the world's major environmental problems, posing significant risks to agro-ecosystems. Conventional technologies employed for heavy-metal remediation have often been expensive and disruptive.

This book provides comprehensive, state-of-the-art coverage of the natural, sustainable alternatives that use a wide range of biological materials in the removal/detoxification of heavy metals, consequently leading to the improvement of crops in these soils.  Novel, environmentally friendly and inexpensive solutions are presented based on a sound understanding of metal contamination and the roles of plants and microbes in the management of these toxic soils.

Written by worldwide experts, the book provides not only the necessary scientific background but also addresses the challenging questions that require special attention in order to better understand metal toxicity in soils and its management through bioremediation.

Feature:

More than 40 international experts offer guidance on bioremediation

Provides cost-effective, sustainable alternatives

Practitioners in developing countries will find this text of special interest

Back cover:

Heavy-metal contamination is one of the world's major environmental problems, posing significant risks to agro-ecosystems. However, conventional technologies for metal-contaminated soil remediation have often been expensive and disruptive.

This book provides comprehensive, state-of-the-art coverage of the natural, sustainable alternatives that use a wide range of biological materials in the removal/detoxification of heavy metals, consequently leading to the improvement of crops in these soils.  Novel, environmentally friendly and inexpensive solutions are presented based on a sound understanding of metal contamination and the roles of plants and microbes in the management of these toxic soils.

Written by more than forty worldwide experts drawing on their wealth of experience in this field, the book provides not only the necessary scientific background but also addresses the challenging questions that require special attention in order to better understand metal toxicity in soils and its management through bioremediation.

This book will be of interest to a wide range of students/researchers/practitioners specializing in the areas of environmental microbiology, soil pollution, sustainable development, crop science, soil biology, and related disciplines.  It will be especially useful to anyone engaged in identifying metal-contamination problems and trying to solve them through the application of natural and inexpensive biological materials.

Contents:

Heavy-Metal Pollution: Source, Impact and Remedies.-Metal-Plant Interactions: Toxicity and Tolerance.- Bioremediation: New Approaches and Trends.-Legume-Rhizobium Symbioses as a Tool for Bioremediation of Heavy Metal Polluted Soils.- Importance of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in Phytoremediation of Heavy Metal Contaminated Soils.- Research Advances in Bioremediation of Soils and Groundwater Using Plant-Based Systems: A Case for Enlarging and Updating Information and Knowledge in Environmental Pollution Management in Developing Countries.- The Bacterial Flora of the Nickel-Hyperaccumulator Plant Alyssum Bertolonii.- Use of Biosurfactants in the Removal of Heavy Metal Ions from Soils.- Mechanism of Metal Tolerance and Detoxification in Mycorrhizal Fungi.- Metal Signaling in Plants: New Possibilities for Crop Management under Cadmium Contaminated Soils.- Microbial Management of Cadmium and Arsenic Metal Contaminants in Soil.-Phytotechnologies: Importance In Remediation Of Heavy Metal Contaminated Soils.- Chromium Pollution and Bioremediation-an Overview.- Genotoxicity Assessment of Heavy Metal Contaminated Soils.- Mobility and Availability of Toxic Metals after Soil Washing with Chelating Agents.- Microalga-Mediated Bioremediation of Heavy Metal-Contaminated Surface Waters.- Decontamination of Radioactive-Contaminated Soils: Current Perspective.- Transgenic Approaches to Improve Phytoremediation of Heavy Metal Polluted Soils.- Use of Crop Plants for Removal of Toxic Metals.- Bioremediation Potential of Heavy-Metal Resistant Actinobacteria and Maize Plants In Polluted Soil.- Importance of Free Living Fungi in Heavy Metal Remediation.- Index.