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Mycorrhizal Infection Can Ameliorate Abiotic Factors in Urban Soils

  • Environmental Microbiology
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Abstract

Once abandoned, urban and post-industrial lands can undergo a re-greening, the natural regeneration and succession that leads to surprisingly healthy plant communities, but this process is dependent upon microbial activity and the health of the parent soil. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in facilitating plant production in post-industrial soils. In so doing, we helped to resolve the mechanism through which AMF ameliorate environmental stress in terrestrial plants. An experiment was established in which rye grass (Lolium perenne) was grown in two heavy metal-contaminated soils from an urban brownfield in New Jersey, USA, and one non-contaminated control soil. One set of the treatments received an AMF inoculum (four species in a commercial mix: Glomus intraradices, G. mosseae, G. etunicatum and G. aggregatum) and the other did not. Upon harvest, dried plant biomass, root/shoot ratio, AMF colonization, and extracellular soil phosphatase activity, a proxy for soil microbial functioning, were all measured. Plant biomass increased across all treatments inoculated with AMF, with a significantly higher average shoot and root mass compared to non-inoculated treatments. AMF colonization of the roots in contaminated soil was significantly higher than colonization in control soil, and the root/shoot ratio of plants in contaminated soils was also higher when colonized by AMF. Mycorrhizal infection may help plants to overcome the production limits of post-industrial soils as is seen here with increased infection and growth. The application of this mechanistic understanding to remediation and restoration strategies will improve soil health and plant production in urban environments.

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Data will be made publicly available upon request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. Heidi-Jane Hawkins and Dr. Dirk Vanderklein for their valuable advice and editorial support.

Funding

The following are sources of funding: National Science Foundation CBET#1603741, the Wehner Student Research Program, and the Bonnie Lustigman Research Fellowship of Montclair State University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA

    Jennifer R. Balacco & Jennifer Adams Krumins

  2. Department of Earth and Environmental Studies, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA

    Bhagyashree P. Vaidya & Diane F. Hagmann

  3. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA

    Nina M. Goodey

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  1. Jennifer R. Balacco
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  2. Bhagyashree P. Vaidya
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  3. Diane F. Hagmann
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  4. Nina M. Goodey
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  5. Jennifer Adams Krumins
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Contributions

All authors contributed to this manuscript, but specifically JRB, NMG, and JAK conceived the ideas and designed methodology. JRB, DFH, and BV collected the data. JRB analyzed the data. JRB, NMG, and JAK wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed critically to the drafts and gave final approval for publication.

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Correspondence to Jennifer Adams Krumins.

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Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figure 1

Representative experimental plants at day 80 in growth chamber for Potting Soil (PS), LSP 146 (146) and LSP 25R (25R). In all cases plants on the left are without mycorrhizal inoculation (AMF-), and those on the right have been inoculated (AMF+). Photo Credit: J. Balacco. (PNG 1966 kb)

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Balacco, J.R., Vaidya, B.P., Hagmann, D.F. et al. Mycorrhizal Infection Can Ameliorate Abiotic Factors in Urban Soils. Microb Ecol 85, 100–107 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-021-01945-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-021-01945-y

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