The effect of mercury on trees and their mycorrhizal fungi

Jean-Philippe, Sharon R.; Franklin, Jennifer A.; Buckley, David S.; Hughes, Karen W.

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2011.05.017

Cited by 17 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 45 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Müller (2001) showed that the soil fungal biomass was not affected by the Hg along a Hg gradient ranging from 7-522 mg THg/kg of soil. Over a narrow gradient in terms of the Hg concentration, only a negative correlation between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and Hg was observed in the literature, while no correlation was found between ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi and Hg [63]. Therefore, this study is the first to describe a significant negative effect of Hg on soil fungal richness and diversity under longterm, natural Hg exposure.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Environmental Metabarcoding Reveals Contrasting Belowground and Aboveground Fungal Communities from Poplar at a Hg Phytomanagement Site

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Characterization of microbial communities in stressful conditions at a field level is rather scarce, especially when considering fungal communities from aboveground habitats. We aimed at characterizing fungal communities from different poplar habitats at a Hg-contaminated phytomanagement site by using Illumina-based sequencing, network analysis approach, and direct isolation of Hg-resistant fungal strains. The highest diversity estimated by the Shannon index was found for soil communities, which was negatively affected by soil Hg concentration. Among the significant correlations between soil operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in the co-occurrence network, 80% were negatively correlated revealing dominance of a pattern of mutual exclusion. The fungal communities associated with Populus roots mostly consisted of OTUs from the symbiotic guild, such as members of the Thelephoraceae, thus explaining the lowest diversity found for root communities. Additionally, root communities showed the highest network connectivity index, while rarely detected OTUs from the Glomeromycetes may have a central role in the root network. Unexpectedly high richness and diversity were found for aboveground habitats, compared to the root habitat. The aboveground habitats were dominated by yeasts from the Lalaria, Davidiella, and Bensingtonia genera, not detected in belowground habitats. Leaf and stem habitats were characterized by few dominant OTUs such as those from the Dothideomycete class producing mutual exclusion with other OTUs. Aureobasidium pullulans, one of the dominating OTUs, was further isolated from the leaf habitat, in addition to Nakazawaea populi species, which were found to be Hg resistant. Altogether, these findings will provide an improved point of reference for microbial research on inoculation-based programs of tailings dumps.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Environmental Metabarcoding Reveals Contrasting Belowground and Aboveground Fungal Communities from Poplar at a Hg Phytomanagement Site

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The study of existing microorganisms in the Hg-contaminated area revealed that increased mercury concentrations in soil does not significantly correlate with the presence of indigenous fungi [16][17][18]. This group of microorganisms is involved in the change of Hg mobilization in soil.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Isolation of Mercury-Resistant Fungi from Mercury-Contaminated Agricultural Soil

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Illegal gold mining and the resulting gold mine tailing ponds on Buru Island in Maluku, Indonesia have increased Mercury (Hg) levels in agricultural soil and caused massive environmental damage. High levels of Hg in soil lowers plant productivity and threatens the equilibrium of the food web. One possible method of handling Hg-contaminated soils is through bioremediation, which could eliminate Hg from the rhizosphere (root zone). In this study, indigenous fungi isolated from Hg-contaminated soil exhibited Hg-resistance in vitro. Soil samples were collected from the rhizosphere of pioneer plants which grew naturally in areas contaminated with gold mine tailing. The fungi's capacity for Hg-resistance was confirmed by their better growth in chloramphenicol-boosted potato dextrose agar media which contained various HgCl 2 concentrations. Four isolates exhibited resistance of up to 25 mg kg −1 of Hg, and in an experiment with young Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L.) test plants, two fungi species (including Aspergillus) were demonstrated to increase the soil's availability of Hg. The results suggest that Hg-resistant indigenous fungi can mobilize mercury in the soil and serve as potential bioremediation agents for contaminated agricultural land.

show abstract

“…However, it is known that prolonged exposure to toxic agents, such as heavy metals, alters the structure and function of microbial communities, selecting species capable of tolerating and, in certain cases, metabolizing toxic agents, because of adaptive mechanisms of tolerance [8,9]. The high mercury concentrations, cadmium and zinc modified the composition and abundance of the soil fungi community in the United States [10], Finland [11] and Belgium [12]. Meanwhile, the influence of heavy metals, including mercury, on the endophytic fungi community is rare, especially about the composition and function of resistant species able to help the hosts colonize contaminated soils.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endophytic fungal communities of Polygonum acuminatum and Aeschynomene fluminensis are influenced by soil mercury contamination

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The endophytic fungal communities of Polygonum acuminatum and Aeschynomene fluminensis were examined with respect to soil mercury (Hg) contamination. Plants were collected in places with and without Hg +2 for isolation and identification of their endophytic root fungi. We evaluated frequency of colonization, number of isolates and richness, indices of diversity and similarity, functional traits (hydrolytic enzymes, siderophores, indoleacetic acid, antibiosis and metal tolerance) and growth promotion of Aeschynomene fluminensis inoculated with endophytic fungi on soil with mercury. The frequency of colonization, structure and community function, as well as the abundant distribution of taxa of endophytic fungi were influenced by mercury contamination, with higher endophytic fungi in hosts in soil with mercury. The presence or absence of mercury in the soil changes the profile of the functional characteristics of the endophytic fungal community. On the other hand, tolerance of lineages to multiple metals is not associated with contamination. A. fluminensis depends on its endophytic fungi, since plants free of endophytic fungi grew less than expected due to mercury toxicity. In contrast plants containing certain endophytic fungi showed good growth in soil containing mercury, even exceeding growth of plants cultivated in soil without mercury. The data obtained confirm the hypothesis that soil contamination by mercury alters community structure of root endophytic fungi in terms of composition, abundance and species richness. The inoculation of A. fluminensis with certain strains of stress tolerant endophytic fungi contribute to colonization and establishment of the host and may be used in processes that aim to improve phytoremediation of soils with toxic concentrations of mercury.

show abstract

The effect of mercury on trees and their mycorrhizal fungi

Cited by 17 publications

References 45 publications

Environmental Metabarcoding Reveals Contrasting Belowground and Aboveground Fungal Communities from Poplar at a Hg Phytomanagement Site

Environmental Metabarcoding Reveals Contrasting Belowground and Aboveground Fungal Communities from Poplar at a Hg Phytomanagement Site

Isolation of Mercury-Resistant Fungi from Mercury-Contaminated Agricultural Soil

Endophytic fungal communities of Polygonum acuminatum and Aeschynomene fluminensis are influenced by soil mercury contamination

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About