[1][2][3] These symbiotic relationships are generally between plants and arbuscular mycorrhizae in the Glomeromycota clade of fungi.
For example, there is a case where zinc phytoextraction from willows was increased after the Basidiomycete fungus Paxillus involutus was inoculated in the soil.
[9] Studies show that mycorrhizal symbionts of poplar seedlings are capable of preventing heavy metals reaching vulnerable parts of the plant by keeping the toxins in the rhizosphere.
[12] In 1993, artist Mel Chin collaborated with USDA agronomist Dr. Rufus Chaney in an effort to detoxify Pigs Eye Landfill, a superfund site in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
The team planted Thlaspi, which had been selected for increased uptake and sequestration of heavy metals.
[citation needed] Slovakia has many heavy metal mines, which have caused significant regional soil contamination.