Seed fungi help corn fight off soil cadmium toxicity
Awais M, Shah N, Mehmood MA, Tariq W, Rehman ZU
Phytoremediation
If you grow vegetables in urban or former industrial soil, this points to a future where a seed treatment, not just soil testing, could keep heavy metals out of your harvest.
Researchers tested three types of fungi that naturally live inside corn seeds to see if they could protect the plants from cadmium, a toxic metal that sometimes contaminates farmland. Two of the fungi, called AK18 and SD64, helped the corn grow bigger roots and shoots, locked the cadmium into safer, less mobile forms in the soil, and kept more of it out of the parts of the plant we'd eventually eat. The third fungus gave mixed, inconsistent results, showing that not all seed fungi are equally helpful.
Key Findings
Under high cadmium exposure (30 mg/kg), fungal isolate AK18 increased root length by 70.3%, shoot biomass by 50.0%, and root biomass by 45.1% compared to untreated plants.
AK18 cut shoot cadmium accumulation by 42.5%, while isolate SD64 reduced root cadmium concentration by 25.0%.
AK18 and SD64 shifted cadmium in the soil from an easily absorbed form into more chemically stable, less bioavailable forms, while also raising antioxidant (GSH) levels and lowering cell damage markers (MDA).
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists found that certain fungi living inside seeds can help corn plants survive toxic cadmium-contaminated soil, boosting growth while cutting the amount of the heavy metal that builds up in the edible parts of the plant.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Seed derived fungi modulate maize responses to Cd stress.
Cadmium (Cd) contamination of agricultural soils can constrain plant growth and may pose food chain risks when Cd accumulates in edible plant tissues. Seed derived fungal isolates have been investi...
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