Uptake and Biotransformation of Trichloroethylene by Hybrid Poplars

Abstract

Poplar trees were found to be capable of taking up trichloroethylene (TCE) and degrading it to several known metabolic products: trichloroethanol, trichloroacetic acid, and dichloracetic acid. Poplars were also shown to transpire TCE in measurable amounts. To eliminate the possibility that the degradation we observed was produced solely by rhizosphere organisms, axenic poplar tumor cell cultures were tested; the cultures produced the same intermediate metabolic products. When dosed with [14C]TCE, cell cultures also produced low levels of radiolabeled carbon dioxide and a labeled insoluble residue. These results show that significant TCE uptake and biotransformation occurs in poplar, which demonstrates the potential for the use of poplars for in situ remediation of TCE.