Communities of root inhabiting fungi in the environment contaminated with phenol and PAHs

The project was focused on the characterization of structural and functional diversity of fungal communities inhabiting the roots of two plants: Poa trivialis and Phragmites australis, growing around a pond contaminated with phenol and hydrocarbons. Fungal communities at the contaminated site were compared with the communties inhabiting plants at the uncontaminated reference site. The project enabled to estimate the scale of negative influence of contamination on the variability and richness of fungal communities. Moreover, it resulted in the identification of functional groups of mycorrhizal and endophtic fungi of high relevance in the context of plant growth promotion under exposure to contaminants, but also plant pathogens, which abundance increased in the roots of hydrocarbon-affected plants.