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Anthyllis vulneraria/Mesorhizobium metallidurans, an efficient symbiotic nitrogen fixing association able to grow in mine tailings highly contaminated by Zn, Pb and Cd

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Abstract

The excessive concentrations of toxic heavy metals in mine tailings and their very low N content make soil reclamation strategies by phytostabilization difficult. Our objective was to test if the symbiotic association between the legume Anthyllis vulneraria subsp. carpatica and the bacteria Mesorhizobium metallidurans originating from highly polluted mine tailings is able to increase N concentration in soils with contrasting Zn, Pb and Cd contents. Plants of A. vulneraria subsp. carpatica from a mine site and of a non-metallicolous subsp. praeopera from non-polluted soil were inoculated with a metallicolous or a non-metallicolous compatible Mesorhizobium spp. and grown on low and high heavy metal-contaminated soils. In contaminated soil, many nodules were observed when the metallicolous A. vulneraria was inoculated with its rhizobium species M. metallidurans, whereas the non-metallicolous A. vulneraria died after a few weeks regardless of the rhizobium inoculant. Eighty percent of the total nitrogen was derived from biological nitrogen fixation through the association between metallicolous A. vulneraria and the rhizobium grown on metal-enriched soil. The ability of the metallicolous A. vulneraria to develop a high nitrogen fixing potential opens new possibilities for promoting a low-maintenance plant cover and for stabilizing the vegetation in high heavy metal-contaminated soils.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Guy Delmot for authorizing the work at the Les Avinières site and for his kind hospitality. The research was supported by the grant EMETER of the Agence de l’Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l’Energie (ADEME contract 04.72.C.0037). The Ph. D. of C. Vidal was financed by ADEME and the Région Languedoc-Roussillon.

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Author notes

  1. Hélène Frérot

    Present address: Laboratoire de Génétique et Evolution des Populations Végétales, Université Lille 1, Bâtiment SN2, F-59655, Villeneuve d’Ascq Cedex, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Montpellier SupAgro, UMR 113, LSTM, F-34398, Montpellier, France

    Stephanie Mahieu & Brigitte Brunel

  2. INRA, USC1242, LSTM, Campus International de Baillarguet, F-34398, Montpellier, France

    Céline Vidal, Karine Heulin, Lucette Maure & Jean-Claude Cleyet-Marel

  3. CIRAD, UMR113, LSTM, Campus International de Baillarguet, F-34398, Montpellier, France

    Antoine Galiana

  4. CNRS, Montpellier Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, 1919 Route de Mende, F-34293, Montpellier, France

    Hélène Frérot & José Escarré

  5. Laboratoire de Génétique et Ecologie Végétales, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Chaussée de Wavre 1850, B-1160, Bruxelles, Belgium

    Claude Lefèbvre

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  1. Stephanie Mahieu
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Correspondence to Stephanie Mahieu.

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Mahieu, S., Frérot, H., Vidal, C. et al. Anthyllis vulneraria/Mesorhizobium metallidurans, an efficient symbiotic nitrogen fixing association able to grow in mine tailings highly contaminated by Zn, Pb and Cd. Plant Soil 342, 405–417 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0705-7

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