Amanita muscaria: bio-concentration and bio-indicative potential for metallic elements

Jerzy Falandysz, Roland Treu

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Articlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We examined the bio-concentration of and the bio-indicative potential for 16 metallic elements (Ag, Al, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Hg, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Rb, Sr and Zn) by Amanita muscaria (L.) Lam. using validated methods including inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) with an ultrasonic cross flow nebulizer and cold-vapor atomic absorption spectroscopy (CV-AAS). Mushrooms and top soil samples were collected from the large forest complexes of the Gostynińsko-Włocławskie Forests, the Warciańska-Notecka Forests and the Lubraniec site in the central region, as well as from the Poniatowa site in the Chodel river valley in the south-eastern region of Poland. For topsoil both the leachable and the “pseudo-total” fractions of minerals have been determined. A. muscaria is a good bio-concentrator of toxic Hg, and highly effective for labile forms of Cd, K and Rb, while it bio-excludes Ag, Al, Ba, Fe, Mn and Sr. The bioavailability of several elements, e.g. Ag, Ba, Cd, Hg and Sr, as demonstrated by the bioconcentration factor (BCF) values (the quotient of the element content in mushrooms to the content in soil, calculated on dry weight basis), and their content in fruiting bodies differed between the sites; however, this was not the case for the soils. This forest fungus is omitted by mushroomers, while due to a seasonal abundance, large size of fruiting bodies and high bioconcentration potential of Cd (medians of BCF for the leachable fraction up to > 1000 for caps and > 500 for stipes) and Hg (up to 27 for caps and to 21 for stipes) play a role in transfer of those toxic elements to forest biota feeding on it. Particularly important can be Cd, the median concentrations of which in caps were in the range 13–22 mg kg−1 dry matter for the sites, while medians for Hg were up to 0.58 mg kg−1 dm, and for Ag up to 0.87 mg kg−1 dm. As a source of protein for animal life, it extracts from soil and transfers to fruiting bodies further to consumers also essential minerals, which occurred (median values for caps per site in mg kg−1 dm) in the range: K (35,000–42,000), Mg (810–1000), Ca (76–100), Co (0.24–0.39), Cu (26–58), Fe (82–240), Mn (12–43), Na (37–110) and Zn (120–220). Elements without a specific biological role were: Al (130–620 mg kg−1 dm), Rb (260–910 mg kg−1 dm), Ba (0.52–2.9 mg kg−1 dm) and Sr (0.27–0.64 mg kg−1 dm). The caps usually showed the elements in greater concentration than stipes, and exception was Na that at average was threefold greater in stipes, and for Al, Ba, Ca, Co and Sr, distribution between both morphological structures was near unity.

Original languageEnglish
Article number722
JournalEnvironmental Earth Sciences
Volume78
Issue number24
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec. 2019

Keywords

  • Amanita muscaria
  • Bio-concentration
  • Forest
  • Heavy metals
  • Topsoil

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