Pharmaceuticals represent an immense business with increased demand due to intensive livestock raising and an aging human population, which guarantee the quality of human life and well-being. However, the development of removal technologies for these compounds is not keeping pace with the swift increase in their use. Pharmaceuticals constitute a potential risk group of multiclass chemicals of increasing concern since they are extremely frequent in all environments and have started to exhibit negative effects on micro- and macro-fauna as well as on human health. In this context, fungi are known to be extremely diverse and poorly studied microorganisms despite being well suited for bioremediation processes, taking into account their metabolic and physiological characteristics for the transformation of even highly toxic xenobiotic compounds. Increasing studies indicate that fungi can transform many structures of pharmaceutical compounds, including anti-inflammatories, β-blockers, and antibiotics. This is possible due to different mechanisms in combination with the extracellular and intracellular enzymes, which have broad of biotechnological applications. Thus, fungi and their enzymes could represent a promising tool to deal with this environmental problem. Here, we review the studies performed on pharmaceutical compounds biodegradation by the great diversity of these eukaryotes. We examine the state of the art of the current application of the Basidiomycota division, best known in this field, as well as the assembly of novel biodegradation pathways within the Ascomycota division and the Mucoromycotina subdivision from the standpoint of shared enzymatic systems, particularly for the cytochrome P450 superfamily of enzymes, which appear to be the key enzymes in these catabolic processes. Finally, we discuss the latest advances in the field of genetic engineering for their further application.

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The presence of emerging contaminants in the environment, such as pharmaceuticals, is a growing global concern. The excessive use of medication globally, together with the recalcitrance of pharmaceuticals in traditional wastewater treatment systems, has caused these compounds to present a severe environmental problem. In recent years, the increase in their availability, access and use of drugs has caused concentrations in water bodies to rise substantially. Considered as emerging contaminants, pharmaceuticals represent a challenge in the field of environmental remediation; therefore, alternative add-on systems for traditional wastewater treatment plants are continuously being developed to mitigate their impact and reduce their effects on the environment and human health. In this review, we describe the current status and impact of pharmaceutical compounds as emerging contaminants, focusing on their presence in water bodies, and analyzing the development of bioremediation systems, especially mycoremediation, for the removal of these pharmaceutical compounds with a special focus on fungal technologies.

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Bacillus thuringiensis is a nonhuman pathogen bacterium that is used as a fungal and insect biocontrol agent. Because of its environmental interaction, it possesses several extracellular enzymes that are able to degrade chitin and chitosan, two of the most important polymers because of their application in numerous fields. However, in recent years, it has been observed that oligosaccharides from the enzymatic degradation of chitosan have important benefits for human health. Comparison and exploration of the production of chito-oligosaccharides from different sources of chitosan will improve the process parameters and expand the biotechnology based in these molecules. This study shows the production of chito-oligosaccharides from three different sources of colloidal chitosan and conducts a qualitative-quantitative comparison between them, using the extracellular enzyme of B. thuringiensis. We found that in the three substrates, it is possible to get a mixture of chito-oligosaccharides from dimer to hexamer in a concentration range from 0.72 to 8.09 mg · g of original substrate. The best substrate to obtain these molecules was commercial chitosan as it has the highest production yields.

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Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and analgesics are two of the most employed drug groups around the world due to their use in the treatment of edema and pain. However, they also present an ecological challenge because they are considered as potential water pollutants. In this work, the biodegradation of four NSAIDs (diclofenac, ibuprofen, naproxen and ketoprofen) and one analgesic (acetaminophen) at 50 µM (initial concentration) by Penicillium oxalicum, at both flask and bioreactor bench scales, was evaluated. An important co-metabolic mechanism as part of the global bioremediation process for the elimination of these drugs was observed, as in some cases it was necessary to supplement glucose to achieve a 100% removal rate: both individually and as a complex mixture. Identical behavior in the implementation of a fluidized bench-scale batch bioreactor, inoculated with pellets of this fungus and the complex mix of the drugs, was observed. The role of the cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYP) in the biodegradation of the drugs mix were evidenced by the observation of hydroxylated by-products. The results on the reduction of toxicity (micro and phyto) were not conclusive; however, a reduction in phytotoxicity was detected.