• Certain plant species may promote growth and activity of pollutant- degrading microbes in the rhizosphere.
• Naphthalene is an aromatic component of petroleum fuels, which are common soil contaminants in Alaska.
• Willows are known to produce and release salicylate, an intermediate in the naphthalene degradation pathway that induces the expression of microbial naphthalene degradation genes.
• A previous pot study (McFarlin et al. in prep) tested the ability of Salix alaxensis (Alaskan willow) to rhizo-remediate diesel-contaminated soil.
• Willow growth treatments significantly decreased the concentration of diesel range organics in soil and increased the number of cultured diesel-degrading bacteria in comparison to unplanted controls.
• The effects of willow on the identity and diversity of diesel-degrading bacteria in this pot study are unknown
