Growth response and mycoremediation of heavy metals by fungus Pleurotus sp.

Abstract

Heavy metal contamination (HMs) in water and soil is the most serious problem caused by industrial and mining processes and other human activities. Mycoremediation is a biotechnology that employs fungi to remove toxic contaminants from the environment in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Pleurotus spp. have been shown to either increase plant growth on metal-contaminated soils by providing more nutrients or by reducing metal toxicity. Pleurotus species (J. Lange), a mushroom that can be eaten, has been observed growing on plantations of wood trees in Kerman's orchards. P. sp. was the subject of this study, which examined the effects of different concentrations of various heavy metals Cobalt (Co), Copper (Cu), and Nickel (Ni) (0, 15, 30, 45, and 60 mg/L) on fungal colony diameters, mycelial dry weights, accumulation of heavy metals, and antioxidative enzymes. The findings revealed that P. sp. was more tolerant of Co than other metals, so the fungus grew more in the presence of low concentrations of Co and Cu. However, even at concentrations as low as 15 mg/L, Ni greatly inhibited the growth of biomass and colony diameter. Heavy metals increased the activity of superoxide dismutases (SOD) and catalase (CAT) up to 45 mg/L, but an increase in metal concentration above 45 mg/L resulted in a significant decrease in SOD. Metals in mycelium also increased as the concentrations of these heavy metals increased.

Microbial Removal of Heavy Metals from Contaminated Environments Using Metal-Resistant Indigenous Strains

“…The high concentrations of heavy metals exert severe stress on the fungal strain, inhibiting growth as metabolic mechanisms are employed for controlling the accumulation of ROS as a result of oxidative stress [ 107 ]. The bioaccumulation of metal ions from the environment involves passive processes such as biosorption onto the cellular surface as well as active processes, namely intracellular sequestration [ 108 ]. Biosorption is one of the first mechanisms employed in contact with pollutants, involving ion exchange, complexation, and physical adsorption due to the negative charge of the functional groups within the structure of the cell wall [ 109 ].…”

Copper-Contaminated Substrate Biosorption by Penicillium sp. Isolated from Kefir Grains

“…Isolated from kefir grains can bioremediate copper from contaminated environments. Heavy metal pollution is a growing problem caused by human activities [ 4 , 15 ]. Some heavy metals, such as copper, are essential to living organisms, while others, such as lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg) [ 8 , 16 , 17 , 18 ], are nonessential and damaging to living organisms in any concentration.…”

“…The continuous efflux of heavy metals from industry pollutes the environment and threatens public health [ 1 ]. Anthropogenic activities, such as spraying cupric fungicides [ 2 ], prospecting and mining, have saturated soil, water and sediment levels with copper (Cu), often with a high degree of toxicity [ 3 , 4 ]. High concentrations of copper and other heavy metals in industrial wastewater have caused many serious environmental and health problems [ 5 , 6 ].…”

Addressing the safety of new food sources and production systems

“…For example, Chlorella spp. has been documented to accumulate cadmium and arsenic, mycelia of Pleurotus ostreatus (oyster mushroom) can bioconcentrate copper and cobalt, whereas Aspergillus and Fusarium can act as biosorbents for heavy metals, including cadmium, chromium, and lead (Ghosh et al., 2023; Leong & Chang, 2020; Mohamadhasani & Rahimi, 2022). Hence, it is important to ensure that the growth substrates are monitored for levels of heavy metal contaminants (Berger et al., 2022).…”