FAIR-CT96-1377 Metal tolerant ectomycorrhizal fungi, selection, characterization and utilization for restoration of polluted forests

Contacts




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Biotechnology : FAIR Area 4.5 - Multifunctional Management of Forests : Forestry : Wood (Lignocellulose)

	Proposal No:	FAIR-CT96-1377
	Date Prepared:	January 1998
	Source:	Proposal Abstract

Abstract:
This project is dedicated to contribute to the protection and restoration of metal polluted forests by the utilisation of symbiotic fungi. However the use of ectomycorrhizal 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:

1. the selection of tolerant ectomycorthizal species by screening of polluted forest soils and increased understanding of the extent of inter- and intra-specific variation. An inoculum bank of ectomycorrhizal 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 ectomycorrhizal fungi as bioindicators of metal pollution by determining the concentration of metals in fruitbodies.
2. the investigation of the mechanisms underlying the remediative effects of symbiotic mycorrhizal associations on metal toxicity to trees. There is clearly a need for selecting biochemical markers of metal tolerance in ectomycorrhizal 'fungi.
3. 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 ectomycorthizal fungi to improve the metal tolerance in symbiosis will be investigated at the laboratory level with a range of tree/fungal symbiont combinations. When large 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.
4. the transplantation of mycorrhizal 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 are designed to provide increased information about these key processes on a scale ranging from study of subcellular localisation mechanisms to whole forest tree studies and evaluation of inoculation programmes at the field level.

Contacts

Coordinator

• UHPN, Laboratory of Forest Biology FRANCE

EC Scientific Officer

• Alkimini KATSADA / European Commission DG VI Agriculture BELGIUM