Arsenic uptake in upland rice inoculated with a combination or single arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

A pot trial was conducted to investigate the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on arsenic (As) uptake of upland rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivar, Zhonghan 221; where the following 3 species of Glomus geosporum (Gg), G. mosseae (Gm) and G. versiforme (Gv) were applied as single or combined inoculations. In general, Gm significantly enhanced (p<0.05) total As concentration in Zhonghan 221 when compared to the non mycorrhizal (NM) treatment. The treatment inoculated with Gg+Gm increased total phosphorus (P) uptake and decreased total As uptake in the ingestible rice parts (husks and grains). In terms of AMF colonization rates, Gm had significantly higher (p<0.05) average values of 57.3% and 66.6% when grown in As₀ and As₄₀ soils, respectively, in comparison to that of Gg and Gv, and finally dropped to 3.63% when grown in As₈₀ soil. There was a significant difference (p<0.05) between single AMF species (Gg or Gv) and AMF mixture treatments (Gg+Gv, Gg+Gm, Gv+Gm and Gg+Gv+Gm) in terms of total As concentrations in rice. No significant correlation between AMF colonization rates and As uptake in grains (r=0.150, p>0.01) and total P (r=0.002, p>0.01) were observed.