Increasing the fungal inoculation of mine tailings from 1 to 2% decreases plant oxidative stress and increases the soil respiration rate

Abstract There is a knowledge gap about the quantitative aspects of mycorrhizal fungi’s influence on ecological succession on tailings. Here, we demonstrate that inoculating mine tailings with 2% fungi yields significantly better results in terms of plant biomass and lower lipid peroxidation compare...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Aurora Neagoe, Minodora Manu, Marilena Onete, Luiza-Silvia Mihai, George Dincă, Denisa Jianu, Stelian Ion, Virgil Iordache
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-08-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-14973-2
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849329802049224704
author Aurora Neagoe
Minodora Manu
Marilena Onete
Luiza-Silvia Mihai
George Dincă
Denisa Jianu
Stelian Ion
Virgil Iordache
author_facet Aurora Neagoe
Minodora Manu
Marilena Onete
Luiza-Silvia Mihai
George Dincă
Denisa Jianu
Stelian Ion
Virgil Iordache
author_sort Aurora Neagoe
collection DOAJ
description Abstract There is a knowledge gap about the quantitative aspects of mycorrhizal fungi’s influence on ecological succession on tailings. Here, we demonstrate that inoculating mine tailings with 2% fungi yields significantly better results in terms of plant biomass and lower lipid peroxidation compared to 1% and 0%, both when growing Agrostis capillaris alone and in combination with Melilotus albus. Lipid peroxidation in the A. capillaris is positively predicted by Cu, and negatively predicted by the total Kjeldahl nitrogen in plants. The biomass of M. albus is positively predicted by the N/P ratio, and negatively by Cu concentration in the plant. This improvement was related to differences between the Technosols properties at the end of the experiment (pH, EC, N-NH4 +, N-NO3 −), which modulated the changes of the tailing material properties from the wet to the dry state, and to differences in the accumulation factors of Cu and Pb from substrate to plant roots, and of the transfer factors from roots to aboveground parts. This is the first time that the effects of such a slight increase in fungal inoculum percentage have been reported. Fine-tuning the fungi treatment can lead to cost-effective techniques for tailings remediation. Block diagrams of an eco-technology are proposed.
format Article
id doaj-art-6087709b16b94a4f9e9089d28e5d3c7e
institution Kabale University
issn 2045-2322
language English
publishDate 2025-08-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series Scientific Reports
spelling doaj-art-6087709b16b94a4f9e9089d28e5d3c7e2025-08-20T03:47:10ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-08-0115111610.1038/s41598-025-14973-2Increasing the fungal inoculation of mine tailings from 1 to 2% decreases plant oxidative stress and increases the soil respiration rateAurora Neagoe0Minodora Manu1Marilena Onete2Luiza-Silvia Mihai3George Dincă4Denisa Jianu5Stelian Ion6Virgil Iordache7Research Centre for Ecological Services - CESEC “Dan Manoleli” Faculty of BiologyInstitute of Biology Bucharest, Department of Taxonomy, Ecology, and Nature ConservationInstitute of Biology Bucharest, Department of Taxonomy, Ecology, and Nature ConservationInstitute of Biology Bucharest, Department of Taxonomy, Ecology, and Nature ConservationResearch Centre for Ecological Services - CESEC “Dan Manoleli” Faculty of BiologyLythos Research Centre, Faculty of Geology, University of BucharestGheorghe Mihoc - Caius Iacob Institute of Statistical Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, Romanian AcademyResearch Centre for Ecological Services - CESEC “Dan Manoleli” Faculty of BiologyAbstract There is a knowledge gap about the quantitative aspects of mycorrhizal fungi’s influence on ecological succession on tailings. Here, we demonstrate that inoculating mine tailings with 2% fungi yields significantly better results in terms of plant biomass and lower lipid peroxidation compared to 1% and 0%, both when growing Agrostis capillaris alone and in combination with Melilotus albus. Lipid peroxidation in the A. capillaris is positively predicted by Cu, and negatively predicted by the total Kjeldahl nitrogen in plants. The biomass of M. albus is positively predicted by the N/P ratio, and negatively by Cu concentration in the plant. This improvement was related to differences between the Technosols properties at the end of the experiment (pH, EC, N-NH4 +, N-NO3 −), which modulated the changes of the tailing material properties from the wet to the dry state, and to differences in the accumulation factors of Cu and Pb from substrate to plant roots, and of the transfer factors from roots to aboveground parts. This is the first time that the effects of such a slight increase in fungal inoculum percentage have been reported. Fine-tuning the fungi treatment can lead to cost-effective techniques for tailings remediation. Block diagrams of an eco-technology are proposed.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-14973-2Agrostis capillarisArbuscular mycorrhizal fungiHeavy metalsMelilotus albusTechnosolPhytostabilization
spellingShingle Aurora Neagoe
Minodora Manu
Marilena Onete
Luiza-Silvia Mihai
George Dincă
Denisa Jianu
Stelian Ion
Virgil Iordache
Increasing the fungal inoculation of mine tailings from 1 to 2% decreases plant oxidative stress and increases the soil respiration rate
Scientific Reports
Agrostis capillaris
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
Heavy metals
Melilotus albus
Technosol
Phytostabilization
title Increasing the fungal inoculation of mine tailings from 1 to 2% decreases plant oxidative stress and increases the soil respiration rate
title_full Increasing the fungal inoculation of mine tailings from 1 to 2% decreases plant oxidative stress and increases the soil respiration rate
title_fullStr Increasing the fungal inoculation of mine tailings from 1 to 2% decreases plant oxidative stress and increases the soil respiration rate
title_full_unstemmed Increasing the fungal inoculation of mine tailings from 1 to 2% decreases plant oxidative stress and increases the soil respiration rate
title_short Increasing the fungal inoculation of mine tailings from 1 to 2% decreases plant oxidative stress and increases the soil respiration rate
title_sort increasing the fungal inoculation of mine tailings from 1 to 2 decreases plant oxidative stress and increases the soil respiration rate
topic Agrostis capillaris
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
Heavy metals
Melilotus albus
Technosol
Phytostabilization
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-14973-2
work_keys_str_mv AT auroraneagoe increasingthefungalinoculationofminetailingsfrom1to2decreasesplantoxidativestressandincreasesthesoilrespirationrate
AT minodoramanu increasingthefungalinoculationofminetailingsfrom1to2decreasesplantoxidativestressandincreasesthesoilrespirationrate
AT marilenaonete increasingthefungalinoculationofminetailingsfrom1to2decreasesplantoxidativestressandincreasesthesoilrespirationrate
AT luizasilviamihai increasingthefungalinoculationofminetailingsfrom1to2decreasesplantoxidativestressandincreasesthesoilrespirationrate
AT georgedinca increasingthefungalinoculationofminetailingsfrom1to2decreasesplantoxidativestressandincreasesthesoilrespirationrate
AT denisajianu increasingthefungalinoculationofminetailingsfrom1to2decreasesplantoxidativestressandincreasesthesoilrespirationrate
AT stelianion increasingthefungalinoculationofminetailingsfrom1to2decreasesplantoxidativestressandincreasesthesoilrespirationrate
AT virgiliordache increasingthefungalinoculationofminetailingsfrom1to2decreasesplantoxidativestressandincreasesthesoilrespirationrate