Phyto-Ruminal-Bioremediation: Grasses to the Rescue

The US EPA has defined Super Fund sites for 594 toxins in the United States. The EPA definition of toxins is one that causes acute or chronic human health effects, or causing significant environmental harm. One of the categories of toxins is nitroaromatic molecules, which are used primarily as munitions. In the United States alone there are 16,000 Department of Defense (DoD) sites. The most common munitions there are TNT, RDX, HMX, and 2,4 DNT. In the world, these sites range historically from World War II residues to those from recent Middle East conflicts. Human health effects from these toxins include damage to the renal, nervous system, reproductive system, dermal, and hepatocarcinoma. In the animal world, a ruminant has four stomachs, one of which the rumen contains obligate ruminant anaerobes. These anaerobic microbes have the unique ability to break down the cellulose bond and other compounds from plant material. An additional fact is that grasses can extract nitroaromatic compounds from the soil and do it far better than dicotyledon plants. A number of people have looked at the uptake of toxins by grasses and other plant material. This paper will present the ability of cool season grasses to remove toxins from the soil and their subsequent degradation by ruminal microbes from sheep