White Rot Fungi as Tools for the Bioremediation of Xenobiotics: A Review

Author: mycolabadmin
2/21/2024
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Summary

White rot fungi are nature’s cleanup crew that can break down many toxic chemicals in our environment, from industrial dyes to pesticides. These special fungi produce powerful enzymes that can degrade pollutants that normally resist breakdown, making them promising tools for cleaning contaminated soil and water. Scientists are studying how to better harness these fungi’s abilities to treat industrial wastewater and restore polluted environments.

Background

Industrial development has released large quantities of toxic chemical compounds into the environment, polluting soil and water with xenobiotics that persist for extended periods. White rot fungi (WRF) are unique microorganisms with exceptional capacity to degrade a wide range of toxic compounds including synthetic dyes, chlorophenols, polychlorinated biphenyls, organophosphate pesticides, explosives and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

Objective

This review addresses the main classes of enzymes involved in fungal degradation of organic pollutants, the mechanisms fungi use to degrade xenobiotics, and the suitability of fungal biomass or extracellular enzymes for bioremediation. It exemplifies the role of fungi in degrading synthetic dyes, PAHs, pharmaceuticals and perfluoroalkyl/polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), and discusses current limitations and future strategies.

Results

The review identifies key enzyme families involved in xenobiotic degradation: laccases, lignin peroxidases (LiPs), manganese peroxidases (MnPs), versatile peroxidases (VPLs), dye-decolorizing peroxidases (DyPs), and cytochrome P450 monooxygenases. These enzymes demonstrate broad substrate specificity and can degrade numerous recalcitrant compounds through both extracellular and intracellular mechanisms.

Conclusion

White rot fungi possess exceptional bioremediation potential for treating polluted environments and industrial wastewater due to their unique enzymatic arsenal and non-specific degradation mechanisms. However, optimization of biodegradation processes and improved understanding of fungal enzyme applications are needed to overcome current limitations and enhance practical implementation.

Published in:Journal of Fungi (Basel),
Study Type:Review,
Source: PMID: 38535176, DOI: 10.3390/jof10030167