Remediation of heavy-metal contaminated soil by plant-mycorrhizal fungal combinations

Abstract:

Mycorrhizae are symbiotic structures formed in the roots of plants after mycorrhizal fungi infect plant roots. The use of mycorrhizae as a bio-enhancing technology in the phytoremediation of heavy metal-contaminated soil has attracted extensive attention of researchers. A large number of studies have shown that mycorrhizae can strengthen the heavy metal transportation and accumulation, and root stabilization processes of plants. In addition, they can promote the absorption and utilization of nutrients, stabilize intracellular redox balance, regulate the expression of resistance-related genes, and alter the micro-environment in the rhizosphere to improve host plant resistance to contaminants. In this paper, through reviewing the results and mechanisms of using plant-mycorrhizal fungal combinations to rehabilitate soil polluted with heavy metals, the bottleneck problems that limit the application of this technology and the future research directions are analyzed. This may provide a theoretical basis for the application of combined plant-mycorrhizae bioremediation technologies.