Cucurbits and their secondary metabolites as stimulators of biological remediation of soil contaminated with phenoxy acid herbicides

Although there is a considerable body of evidence that structural similarity of selected plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) and xenobiotics can alter the microbial community composition and stimulate microbial degradation of organic pollutants, the mutual interactions between plants and microorganisms has not been fully understood in terms of phenoxy acids degradation. Especially, it is important to assess the influence of PSMs on the presence and expression of genes encoding phenoxy herbicides degradative activities and production of enzymes that enable effective removal of studied herbicides from soil. In view of this, the main objective of this reserachis to recognize the role of cucurbits and selected PSMs as (ferulic acid- FA and syringic acid- SA) in the stimulation of biodegradation of structurally related phenoxy herbicides: 2,4-D and MCPA. PSMs were selected on the basis of their structural similarity to phenoxy herbicides (2,4-D vs. FA; MCPA vs. SA). This research focuses on the stimulation of biodegradation processes by PSMs exctreted by plants to the rhizosphere and PSMs applied to the medium externally