Arbuscular mycorrhizae increase the arsenic translocation factor in the As hyperaccumulating fern Pteris vittata L.

Phytoremediation techniques are receiving more attention as decontaminating strategies. Phytoextraction makes use of plants to transfer contaminants from soil to the aboveground biomass. This research is devoted to study the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) on growth and As hyperaccumulation in the Chinese brake fern Pteris vittata. We grew for 45 days P. vittata sporophytes, infected or not infected with the AM fungi Glomus mosseae or Gigaspora margarita, in a hydroponic system on quartz sand. As-treated plants were weekly fed with 25 ppm As. The As treatment produced a dramatic increase of As concentration in pinnae and a much lower increase in roots of both mycorrhizal and control plants. Mycorrhization increased pinnae dry weight (DW) (G. margarita = G. mosseae) and leaf area (G. margarita > G. mosseae), strongly reduced root As concentration (G. mosseae > G. margarita), and increased the As translocation factor (G. mosseae > G. margarita). The concentration of phosphorus in pinnae and roots was enhanced by both fungi (G. margarita > G. mosseae). The quantitatively different effects of the two AM fungi on plant growth as well as on As and P distribution in the fern suggest that the As hyperaccumulation in P. vittata can be optimized by a careful choice of the symbiont.