Pollution pressure drives microbial assemblages that improve the phytoremediation potential of heavy metals by...

Due to the rapid expansion of industrial activity, soil pollution has intensified. Plants growing in these polluted areas have developed a rhizobiome uniquely and specially adapted to thrive in such environments. However, it remains uncertain whether pollution acts as a sufficiently selective force to shape the rhizobiome, and whether these adaptations endure over time, potentially aiding in long-term phytoremediation. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to compare whether the microbiome associated with roots from plants germinated in polluted riverbanks will improve the phytoremediation of Cd and Pb under mesocosm experiments compared with plants germinating in a greenhouse. The experimental design was a factorial 2 × 2, i.e., the origin of the plant and the presence or absence of 100 mg/L of Cd and 1000 mg/L of Pb. Our results showed that plants germinated in polluted riverbanks have the capacity to accumulate twice the amount of Pb and Cd during mesocosm experiments. The metagenomic analysis showed that plants from the river exposed to heavy metals at the end of mesocosm experiments were rich in Rhizobium sp. AC44/96 and Enterobacter sp. EA-1, Enterobacter soli, Pantoea rwandensis, Pantoea endophytica. In addition, those plants were uniquely associated with Rhizobium grahamii, which likely contributed to the differences in the levels of phytoremediation achieved. Furthermore, the functional analysis revealed an augmented functional potential related to hormones, metallothioneins, dismutases, and reductases; meanwhile, the plants germinated in the greenhouse showed an unspecific strategy to exceed heavy metal stress. In conclusion, pollution pressure drives stable microbial assemblages, which could be used in future phytostabilization and phytoremediation experiments.