Influence of inoculation with Glomus mosseae or Acaulospora morrowiae on arsenic uptake and translocation by maize

Abstract

A split root device was designed to assess the possible role of AMF in translocation and detoxification of As by maize plants. Half of each maize root system grew in As-amended or unamended soil and the remainder was inoculated with either Glomus mosseae or Acaulospora morrowiae. External mycelium was collected from a third compartment. Neither shoot nor root As concentrations were affected by inoculation with either fungus. Soil As amendment produced higher As concentrations in roots in the second compartment and in the external mycelium. The As concentrations in the matrix solution of the second root compartment were lower in mycorrhizal treatments with no differences in soluble As in the hyphal compartments. Mycorrhiza exerted little effect on As translocation within plants but may have influenced root As efflux. Deposition of As in external mycelium indicates a possible role of mycorrhizal fungi in the detoxification of As in the host plants.