Abstract
Phosphate-solubilizing fungi (PSF) can enhance P release from phosphate minerals to immobilize heavy metals. However, this promotion substantially depends on their survival in highly polluted soils. The aim of this study was to investigate the survival of PSF after addition of phosphogypsum (PG) and bioorganic fertilizer (BF) in the soil with coexistence of multiple heavy metals, e.g., Pb, As, Cd, Sb, etc. Addition of typical PSF (Aspergillus niger) did not promote the formation of pyromorphite (the most stable form of Pb), possibly due to the buffering effect of the soil (the secreted oxalic acid was neutralized) and limited P supply. Meanwhile, despite that A. niger has high tolerance to heavy metal stress, its survival was significantly declined due to the deficiency of available P. It was also shown that PG, as the major by-product in phoschemical industry, still has relatively high available P compared with common natural soils. PG addition dramatically increased available P (up to 93.87 mg/kg) and the subsequent fungal growth. However, sole PG did not promote the formation of pyromorphite, probably as the abundant Fe2+ and Mn2+ prevented the contact between PO43− and Pb2+ in the soil system. The enhanced soil respiration after addition of BF and PG confirmed the promoted microbial activity (elevated to 3465.58 μg C kg h−1). This study showed PG’s potential as P source for both microbial growth and heavy metal remediation in soil system. A combination of PG, A. niger, and BF can hence achieve long-term bioremediation of heavy metals.
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Funding
Author Zhen Li has received research support from National Key R&D Program of China (2020YFC1808000), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (KYCYXT2022004), and Jiangsu Policy Guidance Program (BZ2020064). Dr. Da Tian has received research support from Program at Department of Natural Resources of Anhui Province (NO. 2021-K-11). Mr. Limin Zhou and Ms. Lingzi Meng were financially supported by Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (SJCX22-0202).
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Lingzi Meng, Da Tian, and Zhen Li designed the research. Limin Zhou, Shang Pan, and Lingzi Meng conducted the experiments. Limin Zhou, Shang Pan, Mu Su, and Choochad Santasup analyzed the data. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Lingzi Meng, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Highlights
• Addition of PG significantly increased available P in soils.
• A. niger can survive in the soil with high concentrations of multiple heavy metals.
• A. niger survival would be limited due to deficient available P.
• PG+A. niger has great potential to improve the efficiency of Pb immobilization.
• Bioorganic fertilizer promises long-term effectiveness of the functional fungus.
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Meng, L., Pan, S., Zhou, L. et al. Evaluating the survival of Aspergillus niger in a highly polluted red soil with addition of Phosphogypsum and bioorganic fertilizer. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 76446–76455 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21243-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21243-5