Uptake of Arsenic by Maize Inoculated with Three Different Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

Abstract

Effects of inoculation with three different arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi (Glomus etunicatum, Glomus constrictum, and Glomus mosseae) on arsenic (As) accumulation by maize were investigated by using soil spiked with As at rates of 0, 25, 50, and 100 mg kg⁻¹. The root colonization rates by the three fungi were significantly different (G. mosseae > G. etunicatum > G. constrictum) and decreased markedly with increasing As concentration in the soil. Inoculation with G. etunicatum or G. mosseae increased maize biomass and phosphorus (P) accumulation (G. mosseae > G. etunicatum) and reduced As accumulation in shoots (G. mosseae ≈ G. etunicatum), whereas inoculation with G. constrictum had little effect on these parameters. Inoculation with G. mosseae produced greater biomass and P uptake and less shoot As accumulation, and therefore it may be a promising approach to reduce As translocation from contaminated soils to plants.

Keywords:

• Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
• arsenic
• maize
• phytoremediation
• soil

Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Peter Christie of the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Belfast, U.K., for linguistic revision of the manuscript. This work was funded by the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. kzcx1-yw-06-03) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Projects 40730740 and 20621703).