Plantago lanceolata growth and Cr uptake after mycorrhizal inoculation in a Cr amended substrate

Abstract

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi from two chromium contaminated sites, one with 275 mg kg-1 of Cr (zone A) and the other with 550 mg kg-1 Cr (zone B), were multiplied and tentatively identified. The effect of both fungal consortia on Plantago lanceolata plant growth in a substrate amended with 200 mg kg-1 of Cr and with 400 mg kg-1 Cr was assessed and compared with the growth of plants inoculated with Glomus intraradices BEG72. Only the plants inoculated with G. intraradices BEG72 and with the fungal consortia obtained from the area with a high Cr contamination (zone B) grew in the soil with 400 mg kg-1 of Cr. The consortia of fungi from zone B, decreased the plant’s uptake/translocation of the heavy metal compared with G. intraradices BEG72. These results underscore the differential effect of AM fungi in conferring bioprotection in Cr contaminated soils.