Abstract

In a first experiment of soil contaminated with Cs-137, inoculation with a mixture of arbuscular mycorrhizae enhanced the uptake of Cs-137 by leek under greenhouse conditions, while no effect on the uptake by ryegrass was observed. The mycorrhizal infection frequency in leek was independent of whether the Cs-137-contaminated soil was inoculated with mycorrhizal spores or not. The lack of mycorrhizae-mediated uptake of (CS)-C-137 in ryegrass could be due to the high root density, which was about four times that of leek, or due to a less well functioning mycorrhizal symbiosis than of leek. In a second experiment, ryegrass was grown for a period of four cuts. Additions of fungi enhanced Cs-137 uptake of all harvests, improved dry weight production in the first cut, and also improved the mycorrhizal infection frequencies in the roots. No differences were obtained between the two fungal inoculums investigated with respect to biomass production or Cs-137 uptake, but root colonization differed. We conclude that, under certain circumstances, mycorrhizae affect plant uptake of Cs-137. There may be a potential for selecting fungal strains that stimulate Cs-137 accumulation in crops. The use of ryegrass seems to be rather ineffective for remediation of Cs-137-contaminated soil. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V

Published in

Science of the Total Environment
2005, volume: 338, number: 3, pages: 283-290
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

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