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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2004, p. 6512-6517, Vol. 70, No. 11
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.11.6512-6517.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

No Significant Contribution of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi to Transfer of Radiocesium from Soil to Plants

E. J. Joner,^1* P. Roos,² J. Jansa,³ E. Frossard,³ C. Leyval,¹ and I. Jakobsen⁴

LIMOS-CNRS, UMR 7137 CNRS-UHP, Faculty of Sciences, H. Poincaré University Nancy 1, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France,¹ Radiation Research Department,² Plant Research Department, Risø National Laboratory, Roskilde, Denmark,⁴ Plant Sciences, Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zürich, Lindau, Switzerland³

Received 27 April 2004/ Accepted 22 June 2004

The diffuse pollution by fission and activation products following nuclear accidents and weapons testing is of major public concern. Among the nuclides that pose a serious risk if they enter the human food chain are the cesium isotopes ¹³⁷Cs and ¹³⁴Cs (with half-lives of 30 and 2 years, respectively). The biogeochemical cycling of these isotopes in forest ecosystems is strongly affected by their preferential absorption in a range of ectomycorrhiza-forming basidiomycetes. An even more widely distributed group of symbiotic fungi are the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, which colonize most herbaceous plants, including many agricultural crops. These fungi are known to be more efficient than ectomycorrhizas in transporting mineral elements from soil to plants. Their role in the biogeochemical cycling of Cs is poorly known, in spite of the consequences that fungal Cs transport may have for transfer of Cs into the human food chain. This report presents the first data on transport of Cs by these fungi by use of radiotracers and compartmented growth systems where uptake by roots and mycorrhizal hyphae is distinguished. Independent experiments in three laboratories that used different combinations of fungi and host plants all demonstrated that these fungi do not contribute significantly to plant uptake of Cs. The implications of these findings for the bioavailability of radiocesium in different terrestrial ecosystems are discussed.

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* Corresponding author. Present address: Laboratoire Pierre Süe, CEA-CNRS, Centre de Saclay, bÂt. 637, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette Cedex, France. Phone: 33 169 084 599. Fax: 33 169 086 923. E-mail:ejoner{at}drecam.cea.fr.

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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2004, p. 6512-6517, Vol. 70, No. 11
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.11.6512-6517.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

This article has been cited by other articles:

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• Centofanti, T., Penfield, R., Albrecht, A., Pellerin, S., Fluhler, H., Frossard, E. (2005). Is the Transfer Factor a Relevant Tool to Assess the Soil-to-Plant Transfer of Radionuclides under Field Conditions?. J. Environ. Qual. 34: 1972-1979 [Abstract] [Full Text]