This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Pinus halepensis inoculated with the ectomycorrhizal fungi spores belonging to Scleroderma in phytoremediation of polymetallic soil. Tailings were collected in the Kettara polymetallic abandoned mine in southern Morocco and diluted with sand in the following proportions, 10%, 25%, 50% and 75%. The pots experiment was conducted for six months under greenhouse conditions. The results show that the studied plant reveals a great tolerance even at high proportion of contaminated soil (75%). The average length and biomass of the aerial and root parts of both inoculated and non-inoculated seedlings decreased with the increase of the proportion of the polluted soil. The inoculated seedlings have shown higher length and biomass than non-inoculated seedlings. The symbiotic association between Pinus halepensis and the fungus Scleroderma could be proposed as an ultimate solution for the phytoremediation of polluted soils.

This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the phytostabilization ability of the native Moroccan plant Citrullus colocynthis on the neutralization of soil acidity and stabilization of metallic trace elements (MTEs) assisted by marble waste. Mine tailings (MT) collected from an abandoned polymetallic site were mixed with powdered marble (PM) using different mixing ratios (%): (MTPM25), (MTPM50), (MTPM75), and agricultural soil (AS) acting as the control. Seeds of C. colocynthis were selected and planted under greenhouse conditions. Growth parameters were measured, and the metal concentrations in substrates and plant tissues were analyzed. The greenhouse results revealed that the growth parameters of C. colocynthis in the experimental treatments were significantly (p≤0.05) lower than those in agricultural soil. The growth of C. colocynthis significantly (p≤0.05) decreased as the ratio of powdered marble increased. The greatest increase in plant biomass was observed in the MTPM25, followed by MTPM50 and MTPM75. Some phytotoxic effects on plants were observed in MPTM­75. The concentrations of Zn, Cu, Pb, and Cd in C. colocynthis roots were significantly (p≤0.05) higher than those of shoots, with maximum values of 112.98 mg kg-1, 201.3 mg kg-1, 201.2 mg kg-1, and 40.03 mg kg-1, respectively. This is a typical characteristic of accumulator plants and maybe one of the tolerance mechanisms. Plants in the experimental treatments were characterized by TF<1 and BCF<1, which indicate that C. colocynthis could be useful for phytostabilization strategies. Our study demonstrates that the phytostabilization by C. colocynthis assisted by powdered marble could represent a successful and environmentally friendly strategy to remediate acidic polymetallic sites.