Affiliations: Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China | Department of Environmental Engineering, Beijing
University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China | Lab of Soil and Microbe,Department of Plant Nutrition
and Resource, Agriculture and Forestry Academy of Beijing, Beijing 100089,
China | Soil and Land Systems, School of Earth and
Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia,
5005, Australia
Abstract: A glasshouse pot experiment was conducted to investigate effects of
the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus mosseae on the growth of Vicia faba
and toxicity induced by heavy metals (HMs) (Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd) in a field soil
contaminated by a mixture of these metals. There was also uninoculation
treatment (NM) simultaneously. Mycorrhizal (GM) plants have significantly
increased growth and tolerance to toxicity induced by heavy metals compared
with NM plants. P uptake was significantly increased in GM plants. Mycorrhizal
symbiosis reduced the transportation of HMs from root to shoot by immobilizing
HMs in the mycorrhizal, shown by increasing the ratios of HMs from root to
shoot. Oxidative stress, which can induce DNA damage, is an important mechanism
of heavy metal toxicity. GM treatment decreased oxidative stress by intricating
antioxidative systems such as peroxidases and non-enzymic systems including
soluble protein. The DNA damage induced by heavy metals was detected using
comet assay, which showed DNA damage in the plants was decreased by the GM
treatment.
Keywords: arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), metal contamination, metal toxicity, DNA damage
