Phytoremediation of oil pollution using free-floating aquatic plants is a promising method for water body cleaning. In this study, the influence of Eichhornia crassipes and Pistia stratiotes on the degradation of oil pollution was investigated. The loss of oil alkanes and the rheological characteristics of water were evaluated, and an analysis of the emerging rhizospheric microbial communities was carried out using high-throughput sequencing. The presence of E. crassipes and P. stratiotes plants in oil-contaminated tanks had no effect on the degradation of oil alkanes. However, the presence of plants promoted the development of rhizospheric bacteria capable of growing in oil-contaminated environments. Alpha diversity of microbial communities in oil-contaminated samples was higher in the presence of plants. Additionally, plants significantly reduced the water/oil interfacial tension, which facilitated the availability of hydrocarbons for biodegradation. A difference was noted in the microbiome between E. crassipes and P. stratiotes. Changes in the composition of microbial communities highlight the potential of E. crassipes and P. stratiotes as rhizospheric hosts for microorganisms in the phytoremediation of water bodies.

Plants are an inexhaustible source of new biologically active compounds that can be used to fight against various human diseases, including cancer. This study evaluates the effects of Pontederia crassipes leaf/petiole extracts on HDF and HEK293 cell lines using an integrated approach combining live-cell imaging (Celena X cell imager) and resazurin-based viability assays. Methanolic extracts were prepared via two methods: (A) prolonged extraction and (B) ultrasonication. Dynamic changes in cell count and surface area were quantified through time-lapse imaging over 24 h, with trendline slope analysis (regression coefficients) providing growth kinetics. Ethanolic extracts (Method A) were later included for comparative analysis. Additionally, methanolic extract was fractionated by HPLC, and GC-MS revealed a fairly wide range of phytochemical components in methanol extract fractions. Methanolic extracts (Method A) showed dose-dependent effects, with HEK293 cells more sensitive (proliferation inhibition at 12.5 μg/mL) than HDF (200 μg/mL). Ethanolic extracts inhibited HDF at 25–200 μg/mL and HEK293 at 12.5 μg/mL. The developed method using live cell imaging showed that the decrease in resazurin signals correlated with cytostasis (stable cell count) rather than cytotoxicity. The results highlight the importance of using this method in conjunction with endpoint assays to obtain more detailed information when analyzing bioactive compounds.

The integration of oil-degrading microorganisms with phytoremediation has the potential to generate a synergistic effect in the removal of petroleum pollutants. This study analyzed the influence of two aquatic plant species (Eichhornia crassipes and Pistia stratiotes) and hydrocarbon-oxidizing bacterial strains (Rhodococcus erythropolis and Pseudomonas brenneri), as well as a microbial preparation, on the formation of bacterial consortia under oil-polluted conditions. The study assessed the losses of petroleum alkanes, the rheological properties of water, and the structure of emerging rhizospheric microbial communities by high-throughput sequencing. E. crassipes demonstrated a higher potential for stimulating the development of an oil-oxidizing microbial community. However, the introduced bacterial strains did not establish themselves within the formed microbial community, indicating the complexity of selecting compatible plant–microbe combinations for efficient bioremediation. Nevertheless, this approach remains a promising direction for enhancing the efficiency of hydrocarbon degradation in aquatic ecosystems.