Phytoremediation of Metal-Polluted Soils by Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

Abstract

Human activities generate wastes, some of which contain large amounts of heavy metals/metalloids that could enter natural ecosystems and alter the activities and functioning of soil micro- and macroorganisms. Microorganisms can adapt/resist to metal stress, and some of them are able to promote the plants establishment and therefore the phytoremediation process. In this context, the use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), and their role in phytoremediation, has emerged as a new and interesting choice. In addition to AMF's well-known contribution to plant nutrient acquisition and growth, these fungi develop diverse mechanisms that encourage plants to grow in soils with high toxic metals concentrations. The authors are concerned about the AMF metal tolerance mechanisms and its role in the promotion of in phytoremediation processes.

KEYWORDS:

• arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
• heavy metals
• metal tolerance mechanisms
• phytoextraction
• phytostabilization

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank the National Commission for Scientific & Technological Research (Chile) for the research grants FONDECYT 3070052 and 11080131.