ROOTS OF METAL HYPERACCUMULATING POPULATION OF THLASPI PRAECOX (BRASSICACEAE) HARBOUR ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL AND OTHER FUNGI UNDER EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS.

Thlaspi praecox (Brassicaceae) is a recently discovered metal hyperaccumulating plant species colonized by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). The identity and diversity of the AMF colonizing its roots have not been determined so far. Therefore, T. praecox was inoculated with an indigenous fungal mixture from a metal polluted site and grown in original polluted soil/ commercial substrate mixtures (i.e., 100%, 50%, and 25%). Low to moderate mycorrhizal frequencies (F = 33-68%) and only rare arbuscules were observed. Densities of vesicles and microsclerotia, typical structures of dark septate endophytes (DSE), were greater in pots with 100% original polluted soil. In contrast, the highest diversity of fungal genotypes was observed in the roots from 25% polluted soil/ commercial substrate mixture, with the lowest soil concentrations of Cd, Zn, and Pb. The sequences obtained corresponded to Glomus species (Glomeromycota), to putative DSE Phialophora verrucosa and Rhizoctonia sp. and to some other fungi from Asco- and Basidiomycota, that are known to associate with plants, namely Capnobotryella sp., Penicillium brevicompactum, Rodotorula aurantiaca and Rodotorula slooffiae. This is the first report of DSE occurrence in roots of hyperaccumulating T. praecox, a promising candidate for phytoextraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]