Untapped Potential: Exploiting Fungi in Bioremediation of Hazardous Chemicals

Overview

Journal Nat Rev Microbiol

Specialties Infectious Diseases
Microbiology

Date 2011 Feb 8

PMID 21297669

Citations 194

Authors

Hauke Harms

Dietmar Schlosser

Lukas Y Wick

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Fungi possess the biochemical and ecological capacity to degrade environmental organic chemicals and to decrease the risk associated with metals, metalloids and radionuclides, either by chemical modification or by influencing chemical bioavailability. Furthermore, the ability of these fungi to form extended mycelial networks, the low specificity of their catabolic enzymes and their independence from using pollutants as a growth substrate make these fungi well suited for bioremediation processes. However, despite dominating the living biomass in soil and being abundant in aqueous systems, fungi have not been exploited for the bioremediation of such environments. In this Review, we describe the metabolic and ecological features that make fungi suited for use in bioremediation and waste treatment processes, and discuss their potential for applications on the basis of these strengths.

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