The effect of endophytic fungi on growth and nickel accumulation in Noccaea hyperaccumulators

Natural Fungal Endophytes From Noccaea caerulescens Mediate Neutral to Positive Effects on Plant Biomass, Mineral Nutrition and Zn Phytoextraction

“…Noccaea caerulescens has been recently shown to be a potential candidate for fungal-assisted phytoextraction, as plant responses are beneficial when associated with certain host (isolated from the same species) ( Ważny et al, 2021 ) and non-host ( Yung et al, 2021b ) endophytic strains under TE exposure. In the present study, we tested seven fungal endophytes isolated from non-metallicolous and calamine populations of N. caerulescens based on their taxonomy.…”

“…(DBF107) and C. cladosporioides (DBF129). Ważny et al (2021) also isolated a strain of C. cladosporioides from the root of N. caerulescens that significantly increased plant biomass and stimulated the uptake and accumulation of Ni in both roots and shoots compared to non-inoculated controls. Phialophora mustea (DBF108) is a DSE with recognized PGP abilities, including the improvement of metal tolerance for the plant ( Berthelot et al, 2017 ; Zhu et al, 2018 ).…”

“…Alternaria thlaspis (syn: Embellisia thlaspis; DBF79) was described after isolation from the roots of N. caerulescens growing in soil with high levels of Zn and Pb (David et al, 2000). This species was also recently isolated from roots and leaves of calamine and serpentine N. caerulescens and tested for its PGP abilities on N. caerulescens (Ważny et al, 2021). Microdochium bolleyi (syn: Idriella bolleyi; DBF159) is a well-known species of DSE that has been extensively isolated from roots and shoots of several cereals and grasses (Gadd, 1981;David et al, 2016;Rothen et al, 2018).…”

“…However, its fungal endophytome has been poorly studied thus far. The first data about the cultivable fungal diversity associated with the roots and leaves of N. caerulescens grown on Ni-enriched soils were recently reported ( Ważny et al, 2021 ). Among the 13 taxa isolated, most of the strains showed a positive effect on the production of plant biomass and on Ni accumulation in roots and/or shoots.…”

“…Among the 13 taxa isolated, most of the strains showed a positive effect on the production of plant biomass and on Ni accumulation in roots and/or shoots. Additionally, Ważny et al (2021) reported that shoots accumulated more Ni when the plants were inoculated with a strain of Phomopsis columnaris isolated from N. caerulescens , highlighting the importance of selecting indigenous strains. However, indigenous fungal strains have not been tested for their effect on Cd/Zn phytoextraction.…”