Protective Role of Native Rhizospheric Soil Microbiota Against the Exposure to Microcystins Introduced into Soil-Plant System via Contaminated Irrigation Water and Health Risk Assessment

Microcystins (MCs) produced in eutrophic waters may decrease crop yield, enter food chains and threaten human and animal health. The main objective of this research was to highlight the role of rhizospheric soil microbiota to protect faba bean plants from MCs toxicity after chronic exposure. Faba bean seedlings were grown in pots containing agricultural soil, during 1 month under natural environmental conditions of Marrakech city in Morocco (March-April 2018) and exposed to cyanobacterial extracts containing up to 2.5 mg center dot L-1 of total MCs. Three independent exposure experiments were performed (a) agricultural soil was maintained intact exposure experiment 1; (b) agricultural soil was sterilized exposure experiment 2; (c) agricultural soil was sterilized and inoculated with the rhizobia strain Rhizobium leguminosarum RhOF34 exposure experiment 3. Overall, data showed evidence of an increased sensitivity of faba bean plants, grown in sterilized soil, to MCs in comparison to those grown in intact and inoculated soils. The study revealed the growth inhibition of plant shoots in both exposure experiments 2 and 3 when treated with 2.5 mg center dot L-1 of MCs. The results also showed that the estimated daily intake (EDI) of MCs, in sterilized soil, exceeded 2.18 and 1.16 times the reference concentrations (0.04 and 0.45 mu g of microcysin-leucine arginine (MC-LR). Kg(-1) DW) established for humans and cattle respectively, which raises concerns about human food chain contamination.

Automated summary

The study found that faba bean plants grown in sterilized soil were more sensitive to MCs compared to those grown in intact and inoculated soils, showing growth inhibition when exposed to 2.5 mg·L-1 of MCs. The estimated daily intake of MCs in sterilized soil exceeded the reference concentrations for humans and cattle, raising concerns about contamination in the food chain.