Cadmium Remediation by Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus–Colonized Celery Plants Supplemented with Ethylenediaminetetraacetic Acid

ABSTRACT

A pot trial using Glomus mosseae along with EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) was conducted for the phytoextraction of cadmium (Cd) by celery (Apium graveolens Linn.) plants from soil artificially contaminated with Cd under glass house conditions. The experiment is a 2 × 2 × 4 factorial design with two levels of G. mosseae inoculations (G. mosseae inoculated and uninoculated), two EDTA concentrations (without and with 2.5 mmol kg⁻¹ soil EDTA) and four Cd concentrations (0, 5, 10, and 20 mg kg⁻¹ soil). The results indicate the formation of an effective symbiosis between G. mosseae and celery in the contaminated soil. However, an increase in Cd input level and EDTA addition showed strong phytotoxic effect on celery plants and G. mosseae, as a considerable decrease in the frequency of root colonization and spore density was noticed. However, the plants were able to withstand the stressed condition due to the benefits provided by G. mosseae through increased P accumulation, chlorophyll content, and plant growth, resulting in an increase in Cd accumulation, which was good enough for the phytoextraction purpose. Thus, celery plants inoculated with G. mosseae and later supplemented with EDTA could be an effective and potentially suitable practice for the remediation of Cd-contaminated sites.

KEYWORDS:

• Apium graveolens Linn
• arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
• ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
• heavy metal remediation
• phytoextraction

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to acknowledge Prof. C. R. Darolia and Dr. Hardeep Joshi (Department of Psychology, K.U. Kurukshetra) for their valuable guidance in statistical analysis.

Funding

A.T. thanks Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, for providing generous financial support in the form of URS (University Research Scholarship) to carry out this research.