Bioremediation of Heavy Metal-Contaminated Agricultural Soils: Mechanisms, Emerging Technologies, and Pathways to Field-Scale Application
- 1Department of Exact Sciences, Faculty of Horticulture, “Ion Ionescu de la Brad” Iasi University of Life Sciences, 3 Sadoveanu Alley, 700490 Iasi, Romania
- 2Research Institute for Agriculture and Environment, “Ion Ionescu de la Brad” Iasi University of Life Sciences, 9 Sadoveanu Alley, 700490 Iasi, Romania
Abstract
Agricultural soils worldwide are facing escalating contamination by heavy metals, which present high risks for health due to their persistence, being non-biodegradable, accumulating across the soil profile, and being easily transferred into edible plant tissues, thus propagating through the food chain, with serious consequences for human health and ecosystem integrity. Conventional physical and chemical remediation approaches are costly, ecologically disruptive and operationally complex for the extent of contamination of agricultural land. Thus, there is an urgent need for sustainable and scalable alternatives. This review addresses the need by providing an integrated, mechanistically grounded synthesis of plant-based bioremediation strategies for heavy metal contamination removal, emphasizing the links between soil chemistry, plant physiology, and soil microbiology. First, the principal contamination pathways and controls on metal speciation and bioavailability are summarized, highlighting how parameters such as pH, organic matter, clay minerals, and redox conditions govern the metal fraction available for the plants. The molecular basis of plant heavy metal uptake, translocation and detoxification is examined in detail, including transporter-mediated root uptake, xylem loading and long-distance transport, and chelation by phytochelatins and metallothioneins. The performance and limitations of the main phytoremedation strategies are evaluated across representative hyperaccumulator species, then two major enhancement solutions are discussed: chemical enhancement using synthetic and biodegradable agents, and biological enhancement through plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and mycoremediation fungi. Integrating these perspectives, this review provides a critical assessment of when and how phytoremediation can offer a realistic and agronomically compatible route for managing heavy metal contamination in agricultural soils.
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BibTeX
@article{motrescu2026bioremediation,
title = {{Bioremediation of Heavy Metal-Contaminated Agricultural Soils: Mechanisms, Emerging Technologies, and Pathways to Field-Scale Application}},
author = {Iuliana Motrescu and Camelia Elena Luchian},
journal = {Agriculture},
year = {2026},
month = may,
doi = {10.3390/agriculture16111215},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture16111215},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Bioremediation of Heavy Metal-Contaminated Agricultural Soils: Mechanisms, Emerging Technologies, and Pathways to Field-Scale Application
AU - Iuliana Motrescu
AU - Camelia Elena Luchian
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/05/30
JO - Agriculture
DO - 10.3390/agriculture16111215
UR - https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture16111215
AB - Agricultural soils worldwide are facing escalating contamination by heavy metals, which present high risks for health due to their persistence, being non-biodegradable, accumulating across the soil profile, and being easily transferred into edible plant tissues, thus propagating through the food chain, with serious consequences for human health and ecosystem integrity. Conventional physical and chemical remediation approaches are costly, ecologically disruptive and operationally complex for the extent of contamination of agricultural land. Thus, there is an urgent need for sustainable and scalable alternatives. This review addresses the need by providing an integrated, mechanistically grounded synthesis of plant-based bioremediation strategies for heavy metal contamination removal, emphasizing the links between soil chemistry, plant physiology, and soil microbiology. First, the principal contamination pathways and controls on metal speciation and bioavailability are summarized, highlighting how parameters such as pH, organic matter, clay minerals, and redox conditions govern the metal fraction available for the plants. The molecular basis of plant heavy metal uptake, translocation and detoxification is examined in detail, including transporter-mediated root uptake, xylem loading and long-distance transport, and chelation by phytochelatins and metallothioneins. The performance and limitations of the main phytoremedation strategies are evaluated across representative hyperaccumulator species, then two major enhancement solutions are discussed: chemical enhancement using synthetic and biodegradable agents, and biological enhancement through plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and mycoremediation fungi. Integrating these perspectives, this review provides a critical assessment of when and how phytoremediation can offer a realistic and agronomically compatible route for managing heavy metal contamination in agricultural soils.
SN - 2077-0472
ER -