Rapid Screening of Plants Promoting Phenanthrene Degradation

Crop plants were tested for their capacity to bring about phenanthrene degradation in solution. A simple colorimetric method was used to quantify phenols formed from phenanthrene in 1 h. In the presence of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) and pea (Pisum sativum L.) roots, >50% of the phenanthrene was metabolized and converted to phenols. In the presence of roots of other plant species, phenanthrene disappeared rapidly, but little phenols accumulated. We suggest that this is a rapid, simple assay to screen plant species for use in phytoremediation.