R6 AM Plant Uptake of Organic Pollutants - Processes and Modeling
Thursday, 17 November 2005: 8:00 AM - 11:40 AM in 324-326

(NEW-1117-834461) Uptake and Fate of Trichloroethylene in Plants.

Newman, L^{1, 3}, Strycharz, S¹, Muiznieks, I², Kim, R³, ¹ University of South Carolina, Columbia, sc, USC³ Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Aiken, SC, USA² University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

ABSTRACT- Plant uptake of trichloroethylene has been accepted for several years, and many sites have already been planted with high water uptake trees such as poplar and willow for the remediation of contaminated groundwater. However, we are still trying to understand the fate of trichloroethylene in plants. Several chlorinated metabolites are known to be present in plants exposed to trichloroethylene, but the fate after dechlorination is not understood. The mechanisms, or enzymatic pathways, for degradation in plants is not well understood. The relative importance of multiple pathways within the plant, degradation, accumulation, leaf transpiration, trunk and stem volatilization are still being debated and studied. And finally, the role of microbes, both in the rhizosphere and those that have formed endophytic relationships within the plant tissues, is not yet understood. However, it is almost certain that all of these pathways do play and role, and understanding them and being able to predict which pathway is most likely to dominate in a given situation will be critical to successful application of the technology. We will present information on the multiply pathways that can lead to remediation of trichloroethylene in plants, and genes involved in degradation within the plant, and methods that have been developed in our labs, in conjunction with colleagues, and by others in the field to monitor the fate of trichloroethylene when the technology has been applied to remediation site.

Key words: phytoremediation, trichloroethylene, poplar, genetic analysis