Nele Weyens

TL;DR: It is clear that in spite of a growing public and commercial interest and the success of several pilot studies and field scale applications more fundamental research still is needed to better exploit the metabolic diversity of the plants themselves, but also to better understand the complex interactions between contaminants, soil, plant roots, and microorganisms in the rhizosphere.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify endophytic bacteria that improve the biomass production and the carbon sequestration potential of poplar trees (Populus spp.) when grown in marginal soil and to gain an insight in the mechanisms underlying plant growth promotion.

TL;DR: Because many bacteria show a natural capacity to cope with contaminants, they could be exploited to improve the efficiency of phytoremediation or to protect the food chain by reducing levels of agrochemicals in food crops.

TL;DR: Endophytes that can degrade organic contaminants and deal with or, even better, improve extraction of the metals offer promising ways to improve phytoremediation of mixed pollution.

TL;DR: The role of seed-associated microorganisms, and especially seed endophytic bacteria, still is underestimated, but these associations could be beneficial for germination and seedling establishment as seed endophical bacteria are already present in these very early plant growth stages.