Book chapter
Heavy Metal Contaminations in Soil and Role of PGPR: A Mitigation Approach
Climate Resilient and Sustainable Agriculture: Volume 2: Social and Transformative Strategies, pp.333-351
Advances in Global Change Research, Springer Nature Switzerland, 1st
13/10/2025
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Abstract
Accumulation of heavy metals in soil is a major environmental and agricultural problem that has resulted in declining soil fertility, plant growth, and food safety. This book chapter focuses on a quantitative examination of heavy metal contents in edaphic settings disturbed by industrial activity, including cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), arsenic (As), and mercury (Hg). Atomic absorption spectrophotometry analysis indicated that 65% soil samples exceeded the WHO/FAO maximum allowable concentration, with a mean of 3.6 and 6.2 mg/kg for Cd and Pb, respectively. Bioavailable fractions represented 48% of total metal contents, suggesting that these pose a significant ecological risk. In vitro experiments of Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) strains such as Pseudomonas fluorescens, Bacillus subtilis, and Azospirillum brasilense resulted in a high resistance and biosorption potential, with P. fluorescens removing 80% of Pb and 70% of Cd. In greenhouse trials, PGPR inoculation increased biomass (30–40%) and reduced heavy metal accumulation in the plant tissues (60%). A highly significant negative correlation (r = –0.87, p < 0.01) was found between PGPR treatment and plant metal accumulation. This book chapter also focuses on the modes by which PGPR counteracts metal stress, namely, metal immobilization, and plant antioxidant system up-regulation. In addition, the chapter also considers the potential role of PGPR in eco-safe soil reclamation techniques and contemporary agricultural practices. These results lend support to the use of PGPR as an eco-safe, feasible strategy to attenuate the metal stress of heavy metals in environmentally polluted soils and warrant extended field-based verification and molecular studies.
Details
- Title
- Heavy Metal Contaminations in Soil and Role of PGPR: A Mitigation Approach
- Creators
- Sajid Ali - University of the PunjabAdnan Zahid - University of the PunjabMuhammad Yousaf Raza - Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture UniversityMukhtar Ahmed - Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture UniversityGhulam Qadir - Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture UniversitySalman Ikram - Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture UniversityShakeel Ahmad - Bahauddin Zakariya University
- Contributors
- Mukhtar Ahmed (Editor) - Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University
- Publication Details
- Climate Resilient and Sustainable Agriculture: Volume 2: Social and Transformative Strategies, pp.333-351
- Series
- Advances in Global Change Research
- Publisher
- Springer Nature Switzerland; Cham
- Edition
- 1st
- Identifiers
- 991013323124102368
- Copyright
- © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Book chapter