Hydrocarbon-degrading filamentous fungi isolated from flare pit soils in northern and western Canada

Biodegradation of aliphatic hydrocarbon by indigenous fungi isolated from used motor oil contaminated sites

“…This study supports the findings by April et al (2000) that reported 22 species of Penicillium and 5 species of Aspergillus isolated from the flare pit soils in Northern and Southern Canada showed the ability to degrade hydrocarbons on solid medium amended with crude oil. Penicillium janthinellum was also previously reported as having the ability to transform pyrene and benzo[a]pyrene into phenols, diols, and quinones (Launen et al 1995).…”

“…The filamentous fungi can grow on hydrocarbons, with Aspergillus and Penicillium species were being the most frequently reported (Colombo et al 1996;April et al 2000;Chaillan et al 2004). …”

“…The saturate profiles of the fractionated residual oil showed that nalkanes has been removed from oil incubated with isolates from the used motor oil (SA5) and hydrocarbon-contaminated soils (SA6, P1 & P9). According to April et al (2000), the reduction in peak heights of the pristine and pyrene indicates the degradation of the branched alkanes isoprenoids components. This is well observed in all of the saturate profiles showing that the fungal isolates are capable of Gas chromatography profiles of residual used motor oil after 2 months incubation at room temperature with indigenous fungi isolated from 3 types of samples.…”

“…Nevertheless, recently fungi have received considerable attention for their bioremediation potential that is attributed to the enzymes they produced that are involved in lignin breakdown which degrade a wide range of recalcitrant pollutants such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons, chlorophenols, and pesticides (Bumpus et al 1985). In addition, fungi have advantages over bacteria such as fungal hyphae that can penetrate contaminated soil to reach the PAHs that have spread beyond the top layer of the soil (Novotny et al 1999;April et al 2000).…”

Characterization of selected actinomycetes degrading polyaromatic hydrocarbons in liquid culture and spiked soil

“…They utilize a wide range of carbon sources, degrade complex polymers such as lignin and possess some of the advantageous characteristics of fungi, i.e. mycelial growth, production of spores, resistance to drought and production of extracellular enzymes (McCarthy & Williams 1992;April et al 2000). Many genera have the ability to degrade different organic pollutants, especially members of the genus Rhodococcus (Behki et al 1993;Bouchez et al 1997;Dean-Roos et al 2001;Larkin et al 2005).…”