Mushroom hunters are often told to avoid picking in spots contaminated by industry, notably due to the bioaccumulation of heavy metals in the environment, so even non-engineered fungi hold promise in remediation strategies. In part this is attributed to the wide spread of their mycelium.
But as there are still early years in studying the application of these organisms in soil remediation, a whole-systems environmental analysis would seem like a logical next step for these Maryland researchers' upcoming field experiments in China. For instance, although the authors indicate that corn plants immediately grown in the vicinity were absent in Hg, what is the impact on insects that consume (and are actively parasitized by) this fungus, and the bird species a trophic level above, especially after the engineered increase in Hg uptake?
Likewise, how stable are the genes produced by the researchers for the artificially increased mercury uptake (against horizontal gene transfer over time to soil microbiota, e.g. Agrobacterium, or to plant-fungus horizontal gene transfer events directly)?
But as there are still early years in studying the application of these organisms in soil remediation, a whole-systems environmental analysis would seem like a logical next step for these Maryland researchers' upcoming field experiments in China. For instance, although the authors indicate that corn plants immediately grown in the vicinity were absent in Hg, what is the impact on insects that consume (and are actively parasitized by) this fungus, and the bird species a trophic level above, especially after the engineered increase in Hg uptake?
Likewise, how stable are the genes produced by the researchers for the artificially increased mercury uptake (against horizontal gene transfer over time to soil microbiota, e.g. Agrobacterium, or to plant-fungus horizontal gene transfer events directly)?