understand the role of Trichoderma spp. in ameliorating the tolerance
of the plants to certain abiotic stresses, as it might be the
one caused by irrigation of water contaminated with As. Lettuce
(Lactuca sativa L.) is an important leafy vegetable that is consumed
primarily fresh or in salads, and it is considered to be a healthy
food. The benefits of lettuce consumption are due to the presence
of vitamin C, phenolic compounds and fibers (Gusman et al., 2013).
Therefore, an As accumulation in its edible portion (i.e., leaves)
couldpose a risk for the consumerhealth(Tapio and Grosche, 2006).
To this scope, in this paper we evaluated the ability of two strains
of Trichoderma, T22 and P1, applied as bio-fertilizers, in decreasing
the accumulation and toxicity of As in lettuce plants irrigated with
contaminated water (5 or 10 mg As per liter).