The remediation of heavy-metal (HM) contaminated soil using hyperaccumulators is one of the important solutions to address the inorganic contamination widely occurred worldwide. Hyperaccumulators are able to hyperaccumulate HMs, but their planting, growth, and extraction capacities are greatly affected by HM stress. The application of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) enhances the function of hyperaccumulators by combining the functional advantages of both, improving the efficiency of remediation, shortening the remediation cycle, and maintaining the stability and persistence of the remediation. Thus, the combined use of AMF with hyperaccumulators has broad prospects for application in the management of increasingly complex and severe HM pollution. This review starts by defining the concept of hyperaccumulators, followed by describing the typical hyperaccumulators that were firstly reported in China as well as those known to form symbioses with AMF. This review provides a systematic and in-depth discussion of the effects of AMF on the growth of hyperaccumulators, as well as the absorption and accumulation of HMs, the effects and mechanism on the hyperaccumulator plus AMF symbiosis to absorb and accumulate HMs. AMF enhances the function of hyperaccumulators on the absorption and accumulation of HMs by regulating the physicochemical and biological conditions in the plant rhizosphere, the situation of elements homeostasis, the physiological metabolism and gene expression. Moreover, the symbiotic systems established by hyperaccumulators plus AMF have the potential to combine their abilities to remediate HMs-contaminated habitat. Finally, challenges for the combined use of remediation technologies for hyperaccumulator plus AMF symbiosis and future directions were prospected.
Keywords: arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; combined remediation; heavy metal pollution; hyperaccumulating plant.