Indoor-biofilter growth and exposure to airborne chemicals drive similar changes in plant root bacterial communities.

ABSTRACT: Due to the long durations spent inside by many humans, indoor air quality has become a growing concern. Biofiltration has emerged as a potential mechanism to clean indoor air of harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are typically found at concentrations higher indoors than outdoors. Root-associated microbes are thought to drive the functioning of plant-based biofilters, or biowalls, converting VOCs into biomass, energy, and carbon dioxide, but little is known about the root microbial communities of such artificially grown plants, how or whether they differ from those of plants grown in soil, and whether any changes in composition are driven by VOCs. In this study, we investigated how bacterial communities on biofilter plant roots change over time and in response to VOC exposure.

SUBMITTER: Russell JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4135768 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature