Growing plants on oily, nutrient-poor soil using a native symbiotic fungus.

ABSTRACT: The roots of land plants associate with microbes, including fungal symbionts that can confer abiotic stress tolerance. Bitumen extraction following oil-sand surface mining in the Athabasca region of Alberta, Canada removes plant nutrients but leaves a petrochemical residue, making the coarse tailings (CT) hostile to both plants and microbes. We isolated an endophyte strain of the Ascomycete Trichoderma harzianum we call TSTh20-1 (hereafter, TSTh) from a dandelion that was naturally growing on CT. TSTh colonization allowed tomato, wheat, and remediation seed mixtures to germinate and their seedlings to flourish on CT without the use of fertilizer. Compared to control plants, TSTh increased germination speed, percent germination, and biomass accumulation. TSTh also improved plant water use e

SUBMITTER: Repas TS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5648232 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature