Inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizae does not improve 137Cs uptake in crops grown in the Chernobyl region.
Methods for cleaning up radioactive contaminated soils are urgently needed. In this study we investigated whether the use of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi can improve (137)Cs uptake by crops. Barley, cucumber, perennial ryegrass, and sunflower were inoculated with AM fungi and grown in low-level radionuclide contaminated soils in a field experiment 70 km southwest of Chernobyl, Ukraine, during two successive years (2009-2010). Roots of barley, cucumber and sunflower plants were slightly or moderately infected with AM fungus and root infection frequency was negatively or non-correlated with (137)Cs uptake by plants. Roots of ryegrass were moderately infected with AM fungus and infection frequency was moderately correlated with (137)Cs uptake by ryegrass. The application of AM fungi to soil in situ did not enhance radionuclide plant uptake or biomass. The responsiveness of host plants and AM fungus combination to (137)Cs uptake varied depending on the soil, although mycorrhization of soil in the field was conditional and did not facilitate the uptake of radiocesium. The total amount of (137)Cs uptake by plants growing on inoculated soil was equal to amounts in plant cultivated on non-inoculated soil. Thus, the use of AM fungi in situ for bioremediation of soil contaminated with a low concentration of (137)Cs could not be recommended.
Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7014, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Ecology, Zhytomyr State Technological University, 103 Chernyakhovsky Str., 10005 Zhytomyr, Ukraine. Electronic address: Mykhailo.Vinichuk@slu.se.
M
M
Vinichuk
A
A
Mårtensson
K
K
Rosén
D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018553:Cucumis sativus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*; D006368:Helianthus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D008129:Lolium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D038821:Mycorrhizae / Q000502:physiology*; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology*; D014455:Ukraine
D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes
Barley; Cucumber; Rape; Ryegrass; Sunflower