Effect of a vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (Glomus epigaeus) on herbicide uptake by roots
Article
Nedumpara, MJ, Moorman, TB, Jayachandran, K. (1999). Effect of a vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (Glomus epigaeus) on herbicide uptake by roots
. BIOLOGY AND FERTILITY OF SOILS, 30(1-2), 75-82. 10.1007/s003740050590
Nedumpara, MJ, Moorman, TB, Jayachandran, K. (1999). Effect of a vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (Glomus epigaeus) on herbicide uptake by roots
. BIOLOGY AND FERTILITY OF SOILS, 30(1-2), 75-82. 10.1007/s003740050590
Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi increase root uptake of P and other minerals, but their role in the uptake of herbicides has received far less attention. These experiments were conducted to determine the effect of the VAM fungus, Glomus epigaeus (Daniels and Trappe), on the absorption of atrazine and trifluralin by roots of corn and soybean. Atrazine uptake by excised corn-root segments was consistently increased by the VAM fungus, but VAM enhancement of atrazine uptake by soybeans was less than that observed for corn. Roots from corn grown for 8 weeks in the greenhouse prior to the experiment took up 25 pmol mm-3 root, whereas non-mycorrhizal roots took up only 11 pmol mm-3 root. Soybean and corn root uptake of trifluralin was also enhanced by VAM infection. Addition of P did not increase herbicide uptake by non-VAM plants. The direct role of VAM hyphae on atrazine uptake was demonstrated using a two-chamber system, where only the fungal hyphae had access to 14C-atrazine-treated soil. Hyphal systems of the fungus were able to remove and transfer 14C-atrazine residues from soil to corn plants, demonstrating direct uptake of the herbicide by the fungal hyphae.
