Arbuscular mycorrhizal effect on heavy metal uptake of ryegrass (Lolium p erenne L.) in pot culture with polluted soils

The aim of the present study was to study the effect of metal-adapted and non-adapted arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on metal uptake by the host plant in two pot experiments. The soil samples originated from a Cd, Ni and Zn-polluted calcareous chernozem. Ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) was used as a test plant. Changes in the parameters of mycorrhizal root colonization and the metal uptake of the host as affected by metal type, metal rate, and mycorrhizal treatments were investigated. A more efficient mycorrhizal symbiosis can develop, if heavy metal-tolerant AM fungi are present in the metal-polluted soil. Cadmium, Ni-, and Zn-transfer from soil to plant was lower in plants with mycorrhizal symbiosis. Cadmium, Ni- and Zn-tolerance of AMF can be different, depending whether the AMF originated from metal-polluted or not-polluted soils.