EFFECT OF POLYAROMATIC HYDROCARBONS IN SOIL ON ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZALPLANTS

The rhizosphere of plants plays a role in the bioremediation of soils polluted with organic pollutants such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PA Hs). Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi provide a direct link between s oil and plant roots, but very little is known of the interactions betw een PAHs and AM fungi, We studied the effect of PAHs on mycorrhizal co lonization in polluted soil, and the effect of AM fungi on plant growt h in these soils. Leek (Allium porrum L.), maize (2ea mag's L.), ryegr ass (Lolium perenne L.), and clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) were g rown in pots containing a soil artificially contaminated with increasi ng concentrations of anthracene or mixed with an industrial soil pollu ted with PAHs. Mycorrhizal colonization by the indigenous AM populatio n of the nonpolluted soil was not significantly affected by the additi on of anthracene up to 10 g kg(-1). However, mycorrhizal colonization of clover and leek decreased when the industrial soil was added to the nonpolluted soil, while maize and ryegrass colonization was not affec ted, The effect of PAHs on plant survival and growth depended on plant species, Inoculation of ryegrass with Glomus mosseae improved plant s urvival and plant growth in the industrially polluted soil. At 5 g of PAH kg(-1) only mycorrhizal plants survived. Mycorrhizal fungi may con tribute to the establishment and maintenance of plants in PAH-polluted soils.