Abstract
The integration of phytoremediation and biostimulation can improve pollutant removal from the environment. Plant secondary metabolites (PSMs), which are structurally related to xenobiotics, can stimulate the presence of microbial community members, exhibiting specialized functions toward detoxifying, and thus mitigating soil toxicity. In this study, we evaluated the effects of enrichment of 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) contaminated soil (unplanted and zucchini-planted) with syringic acid (SA) on the bacterial community structure in soil, the rhizosphere, and zucchini endosphere. Additionally, we measured the concentration of MCPA in soil and fresh biomass of zucchini. The diversity of bacterial communities differed significantly between the studied compartments (i.e., unplanted soil, rhizospheric soil, and plant endosphere: roots or leaves) and between used treatments (MCPA or/and SA application). The highest diversity indices were observed for unplanted soil and rhizosphere. Although the lowest diversity was observed among leaf endophytes, this community was significantly affected by MCPA or SA: the compounds applied separately favored the growth of Actinobacteria (especially Pseudarthrobacter), while their simultaneous addition promoted the growth of Firmicutes (especially Psychrobacillus). The application of MCPA + SA together lead also to enhanced growth of Pseudomonas, Burkholderia, Sphingomonas, and Pandoraea in the rhizosphere, while SA increased the occurrence of Pseudomonas in leaves. In addition, SA appeared to have a positive influence on the degradative potential of the bacterial communities against MCPA: its addition, followed by zucchini planting, significantly increased the removal of the herbicide (50%) from the soil without affecting, neither positively nor negatively, the plant growth.