RESEARCH SUMMARY
Fig 2. Oil Sands Mining Field
Source: Alberta’s oilsands tailings ponds are leaking. Now what? | The Narwhal |
Fig 3. An area in the process of being reclaimed.
Source: Reclaiming Alberta's oil sands mines (earthmagazine.org) |
Alberta’s oil sands are among the world’s largest deposits of crude oil. The large-scale mining of oil sands has brought huge economic benefits to the local government, but at the same time, it has also resulted in severe land disturbance. Tailing ponds are not only occupying the boreal forest habitat but also posing great risks to the local wildlife due to the harmful properties of tailings.
For the tailing reclamation, companies prepare to mycorrhizal plants to reclaim tailings. Mycorrhizas are the structures formed by the root and fungal cells growing together. Because they are the major nutrient absorbing organs of these plants, mycorrhizas can profoundly increase water transport, nutrient uptake, and decrease uptake of salts and metals. These characteristics allow mycorrhizal plants to survive and grow better on reclaimed sites compared with non-mycorrhizal plants.
Piriformospora indica is a root endophytic fungus with a relatively wide range of colonization and can colonize the roots of many plants and interact with them. Improving the stress-resisting of plants is the key to ensuring the land reclamation under the background of tailings stress. In this experiment, by establishing the co-cultivation system of P.indica on B.napus, it is attempted to explore the effect of P.indica on the growth-promoting and adversity resistance of B.napus under tailings stress, and its related mechanisms have been preliminarily discussed.The experiment set up the mycorrhizal colonization group (P) and the blank control sterile root colonization group (C), and three tailing levels, respectively 0%, 25%, 50%Enhanced Non-Segregated Tailings (ENST). The experimental results are as follows: 1. P.indica promotes the growth of B.napus and increases the biomass; 2. P.indica improves the tolerance of B.napus to tailings stress.
Under tailings stress,P. indica alleviated the adverse effects of tailings on plants and improved the tolerance of B. napus to tailings stress. This study provides a theoretical basis for land reclamation under the background of tailings stress.
For the tailing reclamation, companies prepare to mycorrhizal plants to reclaim tailings. Mycorrhizas are the structures formed by the root and fungal cells growing together. Because they are the major nutrient absorbing organs of these plants, mycorrhizas can profoundly increase water transport, nutrient uptake, and decrease uptake of salts and metals. These characteristics allow mycorrhizal plants to survive and grow better on reclaimed sites compared with non-mycorrhizal plants.
Piriformospora indica is a root endophytic fungus with a relatively wide range of colonization and can colonize the roots of many plants and interact with them. Improving the stress-resisting of plants is the key to ensuring the land reclamation under the background of tailings stress. In this experiment, by establishing the co-cultivation system of P.indica on B.napus, it is attempted to explore the effect of P.indica on the growth-promoting and adversity resistance of B.napus under tailings stress, and its related mechanisms have been preliminarily discussed.The experiment set up the mycorrhizal colonization group (P) and the blank control sterile root colonization group (C), and three tailing levels, respectively 0%, 25%, 50%Enhanced Non-Segregated Tailings (ENST). The experimental results are as follows: 1. P.indica promotes the growth of B.napus and increases the biomass; 2. P.indica improves the tolerance of B.napus to tailings stress.
Under tailings stress,P. indica alleviated the adverse effects of tailings on plants and improved the tolerance of B. napus to tailings stress. This study provides a theoretical basis for land reclamation under the background of tailings stress.