| Abstract Detail
Heavy Metals and Phytoremediation Audet, Patrick [1], Charest, Christiane [1]. Heavy Metal Phytoremediation & Arbuscular Mycorrhiza: A New Paradigm in Model Building. Increasing environmental pollutants, such as heavy metals (HM), pose a significant threat to ecosystems and human health. Through the phytoremediation process, plants are used to remove pollutants from contaminated environments. The arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis, an ancient interaction between plant roots and Zygomycetes fungi, is recognized for benefiting host plants subjected to stress factors, including soil-HM toxicity. Our study investigates the roles of AM symbiosis in HM phytoremediation by using an experimental and meta-analytical research strategy, this leading to models of plant-HM uptake and relative plant growth. We have determined that the AM fungi provide (1) an increased HM phytoextraction via ‘Enhanced Uptake’ at low soil-HM levels, and (2) a reduced HM bioavailability via ‘Metal-Binding’ at high soil-HM levels then resulting in increased plant biomass. By integrating these overall phenomena into a model that we have termed ‘Dynamic Mycorrhizal Uptake’, we propose that AM fungi, by buffering toxic HM edaphic conditions, enhance plant-HM tolerance via stress-avoidance. From this perspective, the AM fungi are key components of plant systems and beneficial in remediation processes. Furthermore, this multi-disciplinary strategy is viewed as a novel method in modelling biosystems.
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1 - University of Ottawa, Biology, Gendron Hall, 30 Marie-Curie, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
Keywords:
heavy metal bioavailability
heavy metal phytotoxicity
mycorrhizal feedback.
Presentation Type: Plant Biology Abstract
Session: P
Location: Exhibit Hall (Northeast, Southwest & Southeast)/Hilton
Date: Sunday, July 8th, 2007
Time: 8:00 AM
Number: P05003
Abstract ID:169 |
