................................................................................................................................................. vi List of Figures ........................................................................................................................................ ix List of Tables .......................................................................................................................................... x Abbreviations ......................................................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Literature review ................................................................................................................... 2 2.1 Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) ................................................................................................ 2 2.2 Environmental fate of PCBs ......................................................................................................... 3 2.3 Potential adverse effects of PCBs ................................................................................................. 4 2.4 Remediation techniques of PCB-contaminated soils .................................................................... 4 2.4.1 Physicochemical methods ...................................................................................................... 4 2.4.2 Bioremediation ....................................................................................................................... 6 2.4.3. Plant secondary metabolites .................................................................................................. 9 2.4.4. Rhizodegradation ................................................................................................................ 10 Chapter 3: Objectives ............................................................................................................................ 12 Chapter 4: Material and Methods.......................................................................................................... 13 4.1 Materials ..................................................................................................................................... 13 4.1.1 Chemicals ............................................................................................................................. 13 4.1.2 Primers, enzymes and commercial kits ................................................................................ 13 4.1.3 Bacterial strains .................................................................................................................... 14 4.2 Methods....................................................................................................................................... 14 4.2.1 Cultivation media preparation .............................................................................................. 14 4.2.2 Preparation of liquid growth medium .................................................................................. 14 4.2.3 Preparation of PSMs and biphenyl solutions ....................................................................... 14 4.2.4 Preparation of lysozyme stock solution ............................................................................... 14 4.2.5 Cultivation of bacterial strains on biphenyl ......................................................................... 15