The potential of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to enhance metallic micronutrient uptake and mitigate food contamination in agriculture: prospects and challenges.

Optimizing agroecosystems and crops for micronutrient uptake while reducing issues with inorganic contaminants (metal(loid)s) is a challenging task. One promising approach is to use arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and investigate the physiological, molecular and epigenetic changes that occur in their presence and that lead to changes in plant metal(loid) concentration (biofortification of micronutrients or mitigation of contaminants). Moreover, it is important to understand these mechanisms in the context of the soil microbiome, particularly those interactions of AMF with other soil microbes that can further shape crop nutrition.

Aided phytostabilisation over two years using iron sulphate and organic amendments: Effects on soil quality and rye production.

An outdoor macrocosm experiment using Fe-based and organic amendments over 2 years was set up to evaluate the effectiveness of aided-phytostabilisation. For that, a soil contaminated with As- and Cu-rich waste material (∼13000 mg As kg and ∼500 mg Cu kg) was treated with combinations of iron sulphate (Fe) with lime, paper mill sludge (PS), holm-oak biochar (BC), olive mill waste compost (OMWC) or green waste compost (GWC). Rye (Secale cereale L.

Complementary assessment of As, Cu and Zn environmental availability in a stabilised contaminated soil using large-bore column leaching, automatic microcolumn extraction and DGT analysis.

Soil pollution with trace elements is a concerning issue worldwide. Monitoring of soil pollution and remediation protocols need still from valid complementary analytical approaches able to detect changes in speciation and lability of metals in soils (e.g.

Aided phytostabilisation of As- and Cu-contaminated soils using white lupin and combined iron and organic amendments.

An aided phytostabilisation strategy consisting of several composite amendments of iron sulphate and organic materials combined with Lupinus albus L. (white lupin) was evaluated for remediation of an As- and Cu-contaminated soil. Iron sulphate was combined with lime, paper mill sludge (PS), olive mill waste compost (OMWC) or holm oak biochar (BC) and applied to a slightly acidic soil with high concentration of As (∼2200 mg kg) and Cu (∼150 mg kg).

Effect of Lupinus albus L. root activities on As and Cu mobility after addition of iron-based soil amendments.

Arsenic and Cu mobility was investigated in the rhizosphere of Lupinus albus L. grown in an iron-amended contaminated soil. White lupin was grown in rhizobags in contaminated soil either left untreated or amended with iron sulphate plus lime (Fe + lime) or biochar (Fe + BC).