Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi-Mediated Phytoremediation: Harnessing a Sustainable Approach in Environmental Cleanup of Heavy Metals and Organic Pollutants.
Ghosh S, Sharma B
Mycorrhizal Networks
Same fungi quietly working in your garden soil could be harnessed to detoxify polluted vacant lots and farmland, potentially making more land available for growing safe, healthy food.
There are tiny fungi that live in the soil and wrap themselves around plant roots in a mutually beneficial partnership — the plant shares sugars, and the fungi help the plant absorb water and nutrients. Scientists are now discovering that these fungi can also help plants survive in heavily polluted soils, breaking down or locking away toxic chemicals and metals. This review paper pulls together what we know so far and points out the gaps we still need to fill to use this fungal superpower to clean up contaminated land at scale.
Key Findings
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi show demonstrated potential as a sustainable strategy for remediating soils contaminated with both heavy metals and organic pollutants.
Wastelands where current biomass is below 20% of potential represent a significant ecological and food-security challenge that AMF-assisted phytoremediation could help address.
Key knowledge gaps remain around the genetic basis of AMF-plant symbiosis and how nutrient availability influences the partnership's effectiveness in pollutant degradation.
chevron_right Technical Summary
A review paper explores how arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (soil fungi that form symbiotic partnerships with plant roots) can clean up contaminated lands by breaking down heavy metals and organic pollutants, offering a nature-based path to restoring degraded wastelands.
Abstract Preview
Wastelands, often defined as unutilized lands or areas where the current biomass seldom exceeds 20% of its total potential, pose ecological and socio-economic challenges. Restoring wastelands can h...
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