AI and Multi-Omics for Climate-Resilient Remediation of Heavy Metal Soil Toxicity

Mechanistic role of biochar as a geobiochemical amendment: Mitigating abiotic stress and enhancing soil–plant interactions

Abiotic stressors, including drought, salinity, and heavy metal contamination, pose escalating threats to global food security, challenges further exacerbated by climate change and progressive soil degradation. As a strategic geochemical amendment, biochar is increasingly proposed to enhance soil resilience and agricultural sustainability, directly supporting sustainable development goal (SDG) 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 13 (Climate Action). This review critically evaluates biochar in stress mitigation, focusing on production principles, soil physicochemical adjustments, and changes in the soil‐plant microbiome and soil–plant–microbe interactions. Specifically, we synthesize data demonstrating biochar's multifaceted efficacy: regulating ion homeostasis to reduce Na + uptake by 20%–40% under saline conditions, enhancing water use efficiency by 15%–30% in arid environments, and immobilizing heavy metals to reduce cadmium (Cd) accumulation by 25%–50%. These synergistic soil–plant interactions further contribute to SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) and SDG 15 (Life on Land). However, significant challenges remain regarding feedstock variability, dosage optimization, and long‐term field stability. Furthermore, performance discrepancies under combined multi‐stress scenarios underscore the urgent need for standardized biochar formulations. Integrating biochar into precision frameworks offers a promising geobiochemical frontier for modulating multi‐stress crop resilience and shifting soil–plant–microbe dynamics toward climate‐adaptive landscapes. Such advancements are essential for ensuring global food security for a projected population of 9.7 billion by 2050.

Mechanistic insight into microbial mediated heavy metal uptake and tolerance

Heavy metal (HM) contamination has become a critical threat to the agro-environment, impairing soil fertility, reducing crop productivity, and disrupting ecological balance. It often displays stunted growth, chlorosis, root rot, and ultimately death of plants in severe cases. Due to increased anthropogenic activities, HM accumulation in agricultural soils is rising to an extent and thus adversely affecting the crop productivity, soil health, environmental quality and human health therefore; sustainable strategies for remediation are urgently needed. Microbial bioremediation offers a promising solution by employing the natural ability of microorganisms such as phosphate solubilizers, nitrogen fixers as well as potassium solubilizers to detoxify, immobilize, or transform HM into less toxic forms. This review highlights that microbe-based bioremediation is an effective and sustainable approach for removing HM contaminants in agricultural soil. It highlights specific mechanisms employed by microbes including: biosorption, transportation, sequestering, and detoxification that causes immobilization of HMs and reduces their toxic effect. Furthermore, this review also discusses how integrating advance biotechnological tools with microbial remediation strategies, have the potential to enhance sustainability of agricultural systems. Despite the key advantages, optimizing microbial efficiency for bioremediation still remains a major challenge. Future research focuses on integration of advanced biotechnological interventions, including gene editing, CRISPR-Cas, and improved microbial formulations, to enhance the efficiency and resilience of remediation strategies.

Heavy Metal Contamination in the Soil-Microbe-Plant Nexus: A Comprehensive Review on Mechanisms, Toxicological Impacts, and Integrated Remediation Approaches

A critical review of mechanistic insights and technological advancement for the amelioration of Pb and Cd through phytoremediation.

Heavy metal contamination is a major environmental concern due to its persistence, bioaccumulation, and long-term impacts on ecosystems and human health. Among toxic metals, cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) are particularly harmful because of their high toxicity and carcinogenic potential, posing serious risks to plants, animals, and humans even at low concentrations. These metals often enter soil and water through industrial activities, mining, agricultural inputs, and improper waste disposal. Conventional remediation methods, such as chemical treatment, soil excavation, and stabilization, have been used to manage contaminated sites; however, they are often costly, labour- intensive, and may cause secondary environmental pollution, creating a need for more sustainable alternatives. Phytoremediation has emerged as an eco-friendly and cost-effective approach that utilizes the natural ability of plants to absorb, accumulate, detoxify, or stabilize contaminants from soil, water, and air using solar energy. The objectives of this review are to examine the mechanisms of phytoremediation and evaluate recent advance technologies that enhance its efficiency, with a focus on plant growth-promoting microorganisms, biochar, nanomaterials, CRISPR/Cas9-based genetic engineering, isotope monitoring, and AI/ML tools. The novelty of this review lies in its integrated assessment of these emerging technologies as complementary strategies for advancing sustainable heavy metal remediation. Overall, these developments highlight the growing potential of phytoremediation as a sustainable strategy for environmental cleanup. Nevertheless, challenges related to large-scale application, plant tolerance to heavy metals, and long-term ecological sustainability remain, requiring further research to enhance its practical implementation in environmental management.

Deciphering ways of heavy metals toxicity reduction in crop plants.

Heavy metal (HM) pollution is a major environmental issue affecting ecosystems worldwide. Human activities such as agriculture, mining and industrial manufacturing expose ecosystems and living organisms to HM contamination. HM-contaminated soils impair crop productivity, disrupt food chains and pose serious risks to human health. In plants, HMs interfere with biomolecular and physiological processes leading to morphological and structural alterations. To tolerate HM-induced stress, plants activate various signaling pathways including calcium/calmodulin, MAPK and hormone signaling which regulate the expression of stress-responsive genes. The role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in mitigating metal toxicity has gained considerable attention in recent years. Conventional methods for removing contaminants from soil and water are often expensive, inefficient and environmentally harmful. Phytoremediation has therefore emerged as an eco-friendly and sustainable approach for HM detoxification and environmental restoration. This review provides an overview of HM toxicity, its major sources, uptake mechanisms and adverse environmental effects. It further discusses the relationship between HM stress and plant signaling pathways, the regulatory role of miRNAs and phytoremediation-based strategies for HM alleviation, highlighting recent advances, current challenges and future prospects.

Green technologies for soil remediation: a systematic review

Heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, microplastics, and pesticides exhibit mutagenic, carcinogenic, immunotoxic, and teratogenic properties, leading to significant changes in the soil’s physical, chemical, and microbiological characteristics. This poses a substantial threat to overall ecosystem health. Consequently, addressing soil contamination requires the prompt adoption of sustainable physico-chemical and bio-based remediation approaches. This review provides a systematic analysis of current soil remediation methods that utilise green technologies. Particular attention is given to phytoremediation techniques, the use of soil conditioners such as biochar, hydrochar, and biopolymers, as well as the application of layered double hydroxides. The mechanisms by which these technologies mitigate pollutants such as heavy metals, organic contaminants, and nutrients are analysed, highlighting their role in enhancing soil health while minimising ecological impact. By integrating these green approaches, sustainable soil remediation can be achieved, supporting environmental restoration and agricultural productivity. This review offers valuable insights for researchers and policymakers in advancing eco-friendly soil rehabilitation strategies.