361회 Effects of Heavy Metal Contamination on Mycorrhizal Symbiosis

361회

연사 :  김 창 기, 강원대학교 생물학과 식물생태학교실

제목: Effects of Heavy Metal Contamination on Mycorrhizal Symbiosis

Abstract

 Ectomycorrhizal associations are indispensable for the growth of forest trees in a natural environment. Ectomycorrhizal fungi benefit their host plants as a result of an increase in uptake of water and macro- and micronutrients and resistance to root pathogens. The important roles of ectomycorrhizas in nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems have also been recognised. Carbon and water can be transferred between the same species and even between different species of trees that are interconnected by extramatrical hyphae of ectomycorrhizal fungi. As a result, mycorrhizal systems may optimise resource availability within the plant community and restrict nutrient loss at the ecosystem level. The massive below-ground mycelial network is therefore essential for the maintenance of forest ecosystem vitality and any disturbances in the network may affect whole forest health. Ectomycorrhizas have been shown to decrease in both number and vitality by high concentrations of bioavailable heavy metals in soil. Heavy metal toxicity to ectomycorrhizas will be increased as soil acidification processes in forest ecosystems accelerate. Meanwhile, differential magnitude of sensitivity to heavy metal toxicity in ectomycorrhizal fungi indicates that less sensitive or tolerant ectomycorrhizal fungi may contribute a certain level of resistance of host plants to metals in heavy metal-contaminated soil. Effect of heavy metals on ectomycorrhizas, heavy metal resistance mechanisms in ectomycorrhizal plants and the possible use of mycorrhizal fungi in phytoremediation will be presented in the talk.