Abstract:
Lead (Pb) in foods poses great hazards to health of consumers, and measures to remediate Pb pollution and to reduce Pb residues in farm products deserve much attention. The effects and mechanisms of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) inoculation and cattle manure on the remediation of Pb polluted soil were studied in a pot experiment. The results showed that, at all Pb levels, AM inoculation and cattle manure, applied singly or in combination, all increased shoot and root dry matter yields of tobacco significantly, and improved P nutrition. Treatment with both AM inoculation and manure produced significant decrements on Pb residues at all pollution levels, while AM fungal inoculation did at heavy pollution level, and cattle manure did at slight and moderate pollution levels. The higher soil pH and lower DTPA-extractable Pb content contributed by AM fungal inoculation and/or organic amendments may be one of the contributing factors resulted in a lower Pb toxicity and higher tobacco growth. Our results show a promising potential of AM fungi and organic manure in the production of quality tobacco and phyto-remediation of Pb-polluted soils.