Organic pollutants, such as dyes, have a negative effect on the aqueous environment, therefore, their elimination from water bodies is a high priority. In this work, Eichhornia crassipes and Salvinia natans, both model plants with high phytoremediation efficiency, were exposed to various concentrations (C_i = 50–500 mg/L) of Eriochrome Black T (EBT). Their capacity to assimilate EBT was studied for 16 days of exposure, similar to natural conditions and by spectrophotometric monitoring of the dye concentration (E_{E. crassipes; 150 mg/L} = 33%; E_{S. natans; 150 mg/L} = 71.5%). The changes of the experimental parameters (pH—equalised by day 5, temperature, humidity, light intensity) were followed, and plant growth and biochemical responses to toxic stress effects (photosynthetic pigments, Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX)—decreased effect of P, Mg, Ca, S and K, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), defense enzyme) were examined. Furthermore, changes in oxidative- and photo-degradation of EBT in time and the solid-state properties (SEM, EDX, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy-FTIR) of the dye were investigated. Our results demonstrate that, despite the toxic stress, both species succeeded in reducing the dye-concentration of the water and S. natans proved to be more efficient in binding and removing organic dyes. With our findings, we proved that both plants alleviated the abiotic stress of dye contamination.

As a result of climate change, drought and heat significantly reduced plant growth. Therefore, this study aims to explore and provide more insight into the effect of different arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) strains (Rhizophagus irregularis, Funneliformis mosseae, and Funneliformis coronatum) on tomato plant tolerance against combined drought and heat stress, as well as combined drought and heat shock. A pot experiment was performed under controlled conditions in a growth chamber at 26/20 °C with a 16/8 h photoperiod. After six weeks of growth, one-third of plants were put in non-stress conditions, while another one-third were subjected to combined drought and heat stress (40% field capacity for two weeks and 38 °C/16 h and 30 °C/8 h for 5 days). The rest of the plants were exposed to combined drought and heat shock (40% of field capacity for two weeks and 45 °C for 6 h at the end of the drought period). All data were evaluated by one- and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Means were compared by Duncan’s post hoc test at p < 0.05. The obtained results showed that combined drought and heat stresses had no significant impact on root colonization. Furthermore, stressed AMF plants exhibited a decrease in hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde content in the cells and showed changes in defense enzyme activities (peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), and glutathione S-transferase (GST)) in leaves as well as in roots compared with their relative non-mycorrhizal plants.