Arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization has little consequence for plant heavy metal uptake in contaminated field soils.

ABSTRACT: The factors affecting plant uptake of heavy metals from metalliferous soils are deeply important to the remediation of polluted areas. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), soil-dwelling fungi that engage in an intimate exchange of nutrients with plant roots, are thought to be involved in plant metal uptake as well. Here, we used a novel field-based approach to investigate the effects of AMF on plant metal uptake from soils in Palmerton, Pennsylvania, USA contaminated with heavy metals from a nearby zinc smelter. Previous studies often focus on one or two plant species or metals, tend to use highly artificial growing conditions and metal applications, and rarely consider metals' effects on plants and AMF together. In contrast, we examined both direct and AMF-mediated effects of soil concentr

SUBMITTER: Dietterich LH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5581990 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature