To advance our understanding of the effects of inoculation with ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) on seedling colonization in mine wastelands, we conducted a field experiment in a copper tailing. Six-month-old seedlings of Japanese red pine ( Pinus densiflora ) and oak ( Quercus variabilis ) separately inoculated with three EMF species ( Pisolithus sp., Cenococcum geophilum , Laccaria laccata ) were transplanted to the copper tailing. The survival rates of tree seedlings were monitored monthly, and growth (biomass and height), contents of nutrients and heavy metals (K, P, Ca, Mg, Cu, Zn), and mycorrhizal infection rates of seedlings were determined 6 months after planting. Oak seedlings exhibited higher survival rates than pine seedlings after 6 months of growth on the tailing. EMF inoculations of pine seedlings significantly enhanced their survival, growth, and nutrient uptake. In contrast, EMF inoculations of oak seedlings improved growth only in terms of biomass. Additionally, EMF inoculation caused pine seedlings to accumulate more Cu and Zn in roots compared to non-inoculated seedlings, whereas inoculation inhibited the accumulation of heavy metals in shoots. However, similar results were not observed in oak seedlings. Observations of roots indicated that the rates of mycorrhizal infection of both tree species had dramatically declined at harvest time. In conclusion, ectomycorrhizal symbioses can improve the survival and performance of pine seedlings in mine tailings. The present study provided direct evidence of the importance of EMF inoculation of seedlings to the reforestation of mine wastelands.

Ectomycorrhizal fungal (EMF) propagules play an important role in seedling establishment following disturbance. However, little is known about how the EMF propagule community changes with forest development. In this study, EMF propagules were examined using seedling bioassays in rhizosphere soils collected from a recently closed Pb–Zn tailing (Taolin Pb–Zn tailing (TLT)), a Cu tailing (Dexing Cu No. 2 tailing (DXT)) that had undergone 21 years of restoration, and a mature Masson pine (Pinus massoniana) forest (DXC) outside the Cu mining areas. The corresponding EMF communities colonizing Masson pine at each site were also investigated for comparison. After 8 months of running bioassays, ectomycorrhizal colonization was poor for seedlings grown in TLT (9.0 % ± 14.9 %) and DXT soils (22.4 % ± 17.7 %), while DXC seedlings were well colonized (47.5 % ± 24.9 %). Internal transcribed spacer sequencing revealed that EMF species richness increased with forest development in both the propagule bank (TLT, 6; DXT, 7; DXC, 12) and in the field (TLT, 8; DXT, 14; DXC, 26), though richness was lower in propagule banks. Several lineages, such as Cenococcum, Rhizopogon, Inocybe, Suillus, and Atheliaceae, were frequently encountered in propagule communities, but species assemblages were different among the three sites. Canonical correspondence analysis revealed that several soil parameters, i.e., N, EC, Cu, Pb, Zn, etc., were responsible for the distribution of EMF in the field and bioassay seedlings. The highest overlap in EMF species composition between the propagule bank and the field community was observed at the recently closed tailing (Morisita–Horn similarity = 0.71 for TLT), whereas the lowest overlap occurred at the mature forest (0.26 for DXC). These results indicate that EMF propagules in soil are less frequent and diverse in early primary succession and become more frequent and diverse along forest development, due mainly to the accumulation of dormant spores of Rhizopogon spp. and sclerotia of Cenococcum spp. Thus, EMF propagule communities in soil may diverge from those root-colonizing EMF communities along a gradient of forest development.

The ecological responses of ectomycorrhizal fungi to heavy-metal contamination could affect the establishment and survival of trees under stress conditions due to industrial mining operations. In this study, we investigated species composition and diversity of ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with Masson pine (Pinus massoniana) and white oak (Quercus fabri) growing in Xiangtan manganese mining area in China. Canonical correspondence analysis revealed that soil Mn, Cu, Cd and several other soil cofactors related to manganese mining activities simultaneously structured the ectomycorrhizal community; in addition, a strong host effect was observed. The pine ectomycorrhizal community was dominated by four taxa (Atheliaceae, Thelephoraceae, Russulaceae, and Cenococcum), while the oak community was dominated by Thelephoraceae and Cenococcum. The relative abundance of Atheliaceae was positively correlated with soil manganese concentrations while that of Russulaceae decreased with increasing soil manganese. These ecological responses of ectomycorrhizal fungi may reflect the different physiological sensitivity of ectomycorrhizal fungal species to manganese.

To advance our understanding of ectomycorrhizal fungal communities in mining areas, the diversity and composition of ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with Masson pine (Pinus massoniana Lamb.) and soil chemistry were investigated in Taolin lead–zinc (Pb–Zn) mine tailings (TLT), two fragmented forest patches in a Huayuan Pb–Zn mineland (HY1 and HY2), and a non-polluted forest in Taolin in central south China. Ectomycorrhizal fungal species were identified by morphotyping and sequence analyses of the internally transcribed spacer regions of ribosomal DNA. The two study sites in the Huayuan mineland (HY1 and HY2) were significantly different in soil Pb, Zn, and cadmium (Cd) concentrations, but no significant difference was observed in ectomycorrhizal colonization, ectomycorrhizal fungal richness, diversity, or rank–abundance. In addition, the similarity of ectomycorrhizal fungal communities between HY1 and HY2 was quite high (Sørensen similarity index = 0.47). Thus, the concentration of heavy metals may not be determining factors in the structure of these communities. In the tailings, however, significantly lower ectomycorrhizal colonization and ectomycorrhizal fungal richness were observed. The amounts of Pb and Zn in the tailing sand were higher than the non-polluted forest but far lower than in HY1. Thus, these heavy metals did not account for the reduced colonization and ectomycorrhizal fungal richness in TLT. The ectomycorrhizal fungal community in TLT was dominated by four pioneer species (Rhizopogon buenoi, Tomentella ellisii, Inocybe curvipes, and Suillus granulatus), which collectively accounted for 93.2 % of root tip colonization. The immature soil conditions in tailing (low N and P, sand texture, and lack of organic matter) may only allow certain pioneer ectomycorrhizal fungal species to colonize the site. When soil samples from four sites were combined, we found that the occurrences of major ectomycorrhizal fungal taxa were not clearly related to the concentrations of Pb, Zn, and Cd. In conclusion, our results suggest that ectomycorrhizal fungal communities in mining areas are not necessarily affected by heavy metals themselves but could be largely determined by soil maturity.

采用微波消解系统和氢化物发生-原子吸收分光光度法,对南京市场12种常见蔬菜硒含量进行了分析。结果表明,12种常见大众蔬菜中平均硒干重含量为0.295μg/g,其中菜豆硒含量最高,为1.142μg/g。比较研究了不同浓度亚硒酸钠溶液浸种处理对绿豆芽伸长生长和硒含量的影响,结果表明,使用37.5μmol/L亚硒酸钠溶液对绿豆浸种12 h,对绿豆芽的伸长生长有促进作用,收获的绿豆芽硒干重含量为4.43μg/g,达到了富硒效果。人体每天在摄入其余膳食结构食品足量的情况下,食用该浓度亚硒酸钠处理的绿豆芽120 g即可满足人体每天硒要求量。