Abstract
This study evaluated the influence of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (Rhizophagus irregularis) fungi inoculation (M) on the growth ofCucurbita maximaand as a buffer against phytoextraction of selected heavy metals (HM) (Zn, Cu, Cr, Cd and Pb) from a soil contaminated with crude oil (C). The experiment was set up using four soil treatments, each with three replicates C+ M-, C+ M+, C-M+ and C-M- (control without oil and inoculum). The shoot length, petiole length, number of nodes, leaf area and percentage germination ofC. maximawere significantly (p=0.05) reduced in uninoculated crude oil treatment (C+ M-), unpolluted mycorrhizal inoculated treatments (C-M+) showed remarkable response in growth parameters above the control (C-M-), while the polluted and inoculated treatment (C+ M+) showed significant (p=0.05) increase in growth parameters when compared to the polluted uninoculated treatment (C+ M-). Heavy metals analysis revealed a significant (p=0.05) difference in the heavy metal accumulation ofC. maxima. The heavy metals analyzed in this study are present thus inC. maxima; Zn>Cu>Cr>Pb>Cd. Crude oil polluted uninoculated treatment (C+ M-) recorded the highest concentrations of heavy metals than crude oil polluted inoculated (R. irregularis) treatment (C+ M+). Mycorrhizal inoculated unpolluted treatment (C-M+) and unpolluted uninoculated treatment (C-M-) indicated the lowest heavy metal concentrations. Inoculation withR. irregularissignificantly (p=0.05) reduced heavy metals uptake byC. maximaas observed in this study. Also, the negative effect of crude oil on AMF root colonization ofC. maximabyR. irregulariswas observed in polluted and inoculated treatment. HM often accumulate in the top layer of soil, therefore, are available for uptake by plants via roots, which is a major entry point of HM that ultimately affects different physiological processes. AM fungi can impinge on the chemical properties of heavy metals in the soil, their absorption by the host plant, and their allocation to different plant parts, affecting plant growth and the bioremediation process, thus making the AM fungi a suitable buffer for mitigating heavy metal stress onC. maxima.
Highlights
Plants and environments are faced with diverse and concurrent types of stresses namely; heavy metals, water logging, heat, salinity, drought, etc. adversely affecting plant growth and the environment
Duncan Multiple Range comparisons of the means for every treatment showed that there was significant (p=0.05) difference among treatments analyzed (C- M, C+ M, C+ M+ and C- M+) (Fig. 1, Fig. 2 and Fig. 3). This indicated a significant difference in the growth parameters (percentage germination, shoot length, petiole length, leaf number, internode length and leaf area of the C. maxima seedlings used in this study (Fig. 1)
Similar researches are in line with the observations of this research eg, Zea mays [24,25,26], Lycopesicum esculentus [27] and Amaranthus hybridus [23]. These results clearly show that crude oil contamination can hinder the growth and metabolic activities of plants, inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi accelerates the biodegradation of several organic chemicals like; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which are constituents of crude oil, thereby releasing functional mineral nutrients resulting to an improved in the growth and metabolism of plants [3]
Summary
Plants and environments are faced with diverse and concurrent types of stresses namely; heavy metals, water logging, heat, salinity, drought, etc. adversely affecting plant growth and the environment. Plants and environments are faced with diverse and concurrent types of stresses namely; heavy metals, water logging, heat, salinity, drought, etc. Adversely affecting plant growth and the environment. The incidence of different microbes in the soil can be used as a great tool to augment the efficiency of plants and the environment through symbiotic association. Anthropogenic actions severely affect our natural habitats. The re-establishment of such stress degraded habitats via sustainable, low input cropping systems with the aim of maximizing yield of crop plants is required for crop productivity. The integration of the innate roles of these advantageous microbes in sustaining soil productiveness and plant productivity is gaining much more awareness [3]
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