ASA Southern Branch 2008 Annual Meeting
February 3-5, 2008
Dallas, TX

Monday, February 4, 2008 - 11:35 AM

Effect of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on Cadmium Uptake by Brassica juncea: An Incubation Study.

Pravin Punamiya, Rupali Datta, Mandakini Patel, Dibyendu Sarkar, and Padmini Das. Environmental Geochemistry Laboratory, University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX 78249

Phytoremediation of heavy metals is a low-cost and environment-friendly alternative to the traditional physical and chemical remediation techniques, which are highly expensive and cause irreversible ecological damage. In addition to being relatively inexpensive, phytoremediation has significant benefits over the traditional methods in that it causes minimal environmental disturbance and does not adversely affect soil ecology. Thus, after successful phytoremediation, the remediated soil can be restored to its original condition. Successful phytoremediation requires plants that have high metal uptake capacity and high biomass production. Plant-microbe interaction also plays an important role in enhanced phytoextraction, and hence, in successful phytoremediation. Literature shows that presence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi has a significant impact on the uptake of various metals by certain plants. Indian mustard (Brassica juncea.) is a promising plant species for phytoremediation of various heavy metals and has been widely used for phytoextraction of cadmium from contaminated sites. However, studies on enhanced phytoextraction of cadmium as a function of plant-microbe symbiosis is lacking. It is hypothesized that such symbiotic activities will enhance root uptake of cadmium via metal solubilization in the rhizosphere. The reported study  investigates the effects of infection of Brassica juncea with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on enhanced plant uptake of cadmium in an incubation setup. 
Keywords: Phytoremediation, Cadmium, Brassica juncea, Mycorrhizal fungi.

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