Figure 1.
Effect of DSE fungal isolates on plant growth under cesium contamination conditions.
(A) Dry weight of Chinese cabbage seedlings grown on oatmeal medium enriched with MgSO4.7H2O, KH2PO4, and Nature Aid, supplemented with cesium (concentration 5 ppm and 10 ppm) and inoculated with four selected isolates (Control: without fungal isolate). Data are the mean ± SD, n = 7. Within the same concentration, columns with the same letters are not significantly different at P<0.05. (B): Dry weight of tomato seedlings.
Figure 2.
Effect of DSE fungal isolates on the cesium accumulation in host plants.
(A) Cesium contents in ash (ppm) of Chinese cabbage seedlings grown on oatmeal medium enriched with MgSO4.7H2O, KH2PO4, and Nature Aid, supplemented with cesium (concentration 5 ppm and 10 ppm) and inoculated with four selected isolates (Control: without fungal isolate). (B) Estimated cesium content per dried plant (ppm) in tomato seedlings.
Figure 3.
Interactions between dark septate endophytic fungus Pseudosigmoidea ibarakiensis isolate I.4-2-1 and roots of two host plants.
(A, C) Cross sections of a tomato and a Chinese cabbage root segment stained with 0.005% cotton blue in 50% acetic acid three weeks after inoculation showing fungal hyphae on the root surface, within epidermal cells (EP) (head arrows). VC = vascular cylinder. (B,D) Cross sections of an un-inoculated tomato and a Chinese cabbage root segment serving as controls and showing disruption of vascular cylinder (arrows).