Objective
This project is dedicated to contribute to the protection and restoration of metal polluted forests by the utilization of symbiotic fungi. However the use of ectomycorthizal fungi as management tools requires further, more detailed studies of the fungi occurring naturally in such environments and of the processes involved in detoxification.
The proposed project addresses four central problems:
- the selection of tolerant ectomycolthizal species by screening of polluted forest soils and increased understanding of the extent of inter- and intra-specific variation.
An inaculum bank of ectomyconhizal fungi adapted to polluted conditions will be created which will include strains with various types of tolerance. An important aspect of the project is the use of ectomycolthizal fungi as
bioindicators of metal pollution by determining the concentration of metals in fruitbodies.
- the investigation of the mechanisms underlying the remediative effects of symbiotic mycorthizal associations on metal toxicity to trees. There is clearly a need for selecting biochemical markers of metal tolerance in ectomycorrhizal fungi.
- the selection of combinations of tree and fungal symbiont suitable for restoration of metal polluted sites. In this project the ability of species and strains of ectomycolthizal fungi to improve the metal tolerance in symbiosis will be investigated at the laboratory level with a range of tree/fungal symbiont combinations. When lauge scale cultivation of varieties of trees inoculated with a metal tolerant ectomycorthizal strain will be possible, then restoration of contaminated areas would become a reality.
- the transplantation of mycorthizal trees in impacted forest soils and the detection in the soil environment of the introduced fungi to determine their survival, growth, and spread within a microbial community of natural ecosystems and restoration sites.
The laboratory and field experiments of this project aue designed to provide increased information about these key processes on a scale ranging from study of subcellular localization mechanisms to whole forest tree studies and evaluation of inoculation Programmes at the field level.
Fields of science
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologymycology
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesenvironmental sciencespollution
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiological behavioural sciencesethologybiological interactions
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicinetransplantation
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
54506 VANDOEUVRE CEDEX
France