Effect of microscopic fungi on the 137Cs accumulation by some plants growing on radionuclides contaminated soil

The influence of soil micromycetes (melanin-containing, dark-pigmented Cladosporium cladosporioides and light-pigmented Paecilomyces lilacinus) on 137Cs accumulation by aboveground phytomass of some higher plants (sugar beet, cabbage and clover) was studied in field experiments in radionuclides contaminated soil of the Chernobyl zone with total radioactivity 37-50 kBq/kg. Abundance of these fungi was determined 1, 3 and 5 months after their introduction into the soil. P. lilacinus colonies were isolated in the beginning of the experiment in contrast to C. cladosporioides colonies that were isolated at the end of plants vegetation. The coefficients of 137Cs accumulation by aboveground phytomass were higher after the introduction of light-pigmented than of dark-pigmented fungus. These coefficients were higher after the simultaneous introduction of the two fungi than after each fungus introduced separately. (author)