Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2016, 17(8), 1205; doi:10.3390/ijms17081205
Effects of Secondary Plant Metabolites on Microbial Populations: Changes in Community Structure and Metabolic Activity in Contaminated Environments
1
Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Technicka 3, 166 28 Prague, Czech Republic
2
Department of Genomics and Bioinformatics, Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Videnska 1083, 142 20 Prague, Czech Republic
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Marcello Iriti
Received: 4 April 2016 / Revised: 20 June 2016 / Accepted: 15 July 2016 / Published: 29 July 2016
(This article belongs to the Section Molecular Plant Sciences)
Abstract
Secondary plant metabolites (SPMEs) play an important role in plant survival in the environment and serve to establish ecological relationships between plants and other organisms. Communication between plants and microorganisms via SPMEs contained in root exudates or derived from litter decomposition is an example of this phenomenon. In this review, the general aspects of rhizodeposition together with the significance of terpenes and phenolic compounds are discussed in detail. We focus specifically on the effect of SPMEs on microbial community structure and metabolic activity in environments contaminated by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Furthermore, a section is devoted to a complex effect of plants and/or their metabolites contained in litter on bioremediation of contaminated sites. New insights are introduced from a study evaluating the effects of SPMEs derived during decomposition of grapefruit peel, lemon peel, and pears on bacterial communities and their ability to degrade PCBs in a long-term contaminated soil. The presented review supports the “secondary compound hypothesis” and demonstrates the potential of SPMEs for increasing the effectiveness of bioremediation processes. View Full-Text
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).
Share & Cite This Article
MDPI and ACS Style
Musilova, L.; Ridl, J.; Polivkova, M.; Macek, T.; Uhlik, O. Effects of Secondary Plant Metabolites on Microbial Populations: Changes in Community Structure and Metabolic Activity in Contaminated Environments. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2016, 17, 1205.
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
Related Articles
Article Metrics
Comments
[Return to top]
Int. J. Mol. Sci.
EISSN 1422-0067
Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland
RSS
E-Mail Table of Contents Alert