Contaminant transport in the fungal pipeline
Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - 11:33
in Earth & Climate
Leipzig. Fungi are found throughout the soil with giant braiding of fine threads. However, these networks have surprising functions. Only a few years ago researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) discovered that bacteria travel over the fungal threads through the labyrinth of soil pores, much the same as on a highway. Now, together with British colleagues from the University of Lancaster, the UFZ researchers have come upon another phenomenon. Accordingly, the fungal networks also transports contaminants which are otherwise largely immobile in the ground. These living pipelines can therefore contribute to the restoration of impacted areas, write the researchers in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.