BIOREMEDIATION - Part I 

Minerva Biotecnologica 2001 March;13(1):55-63

Copyright © 2001 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Molecular and cellular mechanisms of heavy metal tolerance in mycorrhizal fungi: what perspectives for bioremediation?

Perotto S. ^{1, 3}, Martino E. ^{1, 2}

¹ Centro di Studio sulla Micologia del Terreno, CNR; ² Department of Plant Biology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy; ³ Istituto di Metereologia e Oceanografia, IUN, Napoli, Italy

Mycorrhizal fun­gi rep­re­sent an inter­face ­between ­plants and ­soil, as ­they medi­ate the ­uptake and trans­fer of ele­ments ­from the ­soil par­ti­cles to the ­roots of mycor­rhi­zal ­plants. For ­these rea­sons, ­there has ­been increas­ing inter­est for ­these sym­bi­ot­ic fun­gi in dif­fer­ent sec­tors of ­agro-envi­ron­men­tal bio­tech­nol­o­gies. In ­fact, act­ing as bio­fer­til­is­ers and phy­tos­tim­u­la­tors, sym­bi­ot­ic fun­gi ­allow a nat­u­ral man­age­ment of agri­cul­ture and ­more ­respect for the envi­ron­ment. These sym­bi­ot­ic fun­gi can ­also pro­tect ­their ­host ­plants ­from the tox­ic ­effects of ­heavy met­als, ­thus allow­ing reveg­e­ta­tion of con­tam­i­nat­ed ­sites. Despite the doc­u­ment­ed pro­tec­tion ­effects, the bio-molec­u­lar mech­a­nisms reg­u­lat­ing the inter­ac­tion ­between ­heavy met­als and mycor­rhi­zal fun­gi are ­still large­ly ­unknown. They ­will be dis­cussed in ­this ­review, ­because ­their under­stand­ing is a pre­req­ui­site for a bet­ter use of ­these ­soil bio­tic com­po­nents as ­tools in bio­re­me­di­a­tion.