Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Biodegradation by Basidiomycetes Fungi, Pseudomonas Isolate, and Their Cocultures: Comparative In Vivo and In Silico Approach

Abstract

The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) biodegradation potential of the five basidiomycetes' fungal monocultures and their cocultures was compared with that of a Pseudomonas isolate recovered from oil-spilled soil. As utilization of hydrocarbons by the microorganisms is associated with biosurfactant production, the level of biosurfactant production and its composition by the selected microorganisms was also investigated. The Pseudomonas isolate showed higher ability to degrade three of the five PAHs but the isolate did not produce biosurfactant higher than C. versicolor and P. ostreatus. Among the PAHs, the most effective biodegradation of PAH--pyrene (42%)--was obtained with the fungus C. versicolor. Cocultures involving the fungi and Pseudomonas could not significantly degrade the selected PAHs compounds above that degraded by the most efficient monoculture. A slight increase in pyrene degradation was observed in cocultures of C. versicolor and F. palustris (93.7% pyrene). The crude biosurfactant was biochemically characterized as a multicomponent surfactant consisting of protein and polysaccharides. The PAH biodegradation potential of the basidiomycetes fungi positively correlated with their potential to express ligninolytic enzymes such as lignin peroxidase (Lip), manganese peroxidase (Mnp), and laccase. The present study utilized in silico method such as protein-ligand docking using the FRED in Open Eye software as a tool to assess the level of ligninolytic enzymes and PAHs interactions. The in silico analysis using FRED revealed that of the five PAHs, maximum interaction occurred between pyrene and all the three ligninolytic enzymes. The results of the in silico analysis corroborated with our experimental results showing that pyrene was degraded to the maximum extent by species such as C. versicolor and P. ostreatus.

Diversity and PAH growth abilities of bacterial strains isolated from a contaminated soil in Slovakia

“…The PAHs degrading properties of our bacterial isolates are confirmed also by previous works; in fact the Pseudomonas strains are notoriously considered as PAHs degrading bacteria (Doong & Lei 2003;Arun et al 2008). The same it is possible to say for the strains belonging to the genus Sphingomonas (Shi et al 2001;Kobayashi et al 2009).…”

Pollutants Biodegradation by Fungi

“…Bioremediation technology applied to oil contaminated soil has become an important field in research for its advantages such as low cost, little environmental effect, simplicity and efficiency and has a bright perspective for the future. The main research fields relating to the bioremediation of oil contaminated soil were put forward employing fungi [8] [1,23]. Other lignolytic fungi, Allescheriella sp.…”

“…Bioremediation is a process by which living organisms degrade or transform hazardous organic contaminants to less toxic compounds [1]. Microorganisms in the indigenous environment have been known to play key roles in the biodegradation of organic compounds.…”

"Lignocellulose Degrading Enzymes from Fungi and Their Industrial Applications"

“…Another important application of laccase is the bioremediation of poisonous organic pollutants like chlorophenols and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from the soil 132,133 . The stable laccase enzyme produced by A. tenuissima is being used in several bioprocesses, such as biopulping, biobleaching, bioremediation, food technological uses, and treatment of industrial waste water [134][135][136] .…”