Action mycorrhizal fungi and biofertilizer in soil contaminated with diesel

Abstract

Bioremediation is a technology that uses microorganisms as recuperative agents of soil and other contaminated media. The microbial soil community has great influence on the fate of xenobiotics discarded in the environment. Mycorrhizae, a mutualistic association of fungi with plant roots, have the capacity to recover degraded areas. One of these associations is arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi (AMF), which absorbs water and nutrients for plants, protecting them against pathogens and helping to grow vegetation. This study aims to inoculate AMF in contaminated soil with different concentrations of diesel oil and, in certain samples, to add biofertilizer, verifying the evolution of Zea mays (corn) seeds. The development of the seedlings was analyzed through the examination of root length, stem, fresh weight and dry weight, quantification of the bacteria and fungi populations present in the soil. Diesel oil caused toxic effects on seedlings, influencing growth and weight. The biofertilizer addition contributed to the root length and stem in relation to the inoculum of AMF in the development of Zea mays. Thus, biostimulation and bioaugmentation acted effectively in the remediation of the soil contaminated with diesel.