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Fungal Biodegradation: Strategies, Current Understanding, and Future Prospects
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Fungal Biodegradation: Strategies, Current Understanding, and Future Prospects

A special issue of Journal of Fungi (ISSN 2309-608X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2021) | Viewed by 16207

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Elisabet Aranda

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Microbiology, Institute of Water Research, University of Granada, Ramón y Cajal 4, 18071 Granada, Spain
Interests: fungal bioremediation; xenobiotic transformation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ramón Alberto Batista-García

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centro de Investigación en Dinámica Celular, Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias Básicas y Aplicadas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Ave. Universidad 1001, Col. Chamilpa, Cuernavaca, Morelos 62209, Mexico
Interests: fungal bioremediation; extremophilic fungi; xenobiotic transformation; omics approaches
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The bioremediation of hazardous pollutants has been extensively studied in recent decades, including the potential use of different microorganisms for this purpose. Environmental studies have revealed that fungi are some of the most important players in polluted environments. They can remove a myriad of chemical compounds, including some of the more recalcitrant xenobiotics such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), dyes, plastics, pharmaceutical active compounds, or heavy metals. Paradoxically, despite their key involvement, fungi are often treated as a black box, and their roles in the transformation of xenobiotics and catabolic pathways remain poorly understood.

We are pleased to invite you to the Special Issue: “Fungal Biodegradation: Strategies, Current Understanding, and Future Prospects”. In this Special Issue, original research articles, reviews, minireviews, method articles, and short communications are welcome. Research areas may include, but are not limited to, describing advances in research of fungi with the capability to transform recalcitrant and emerging pollutants, including the following: studies of fungal diversity in polluted habitats; fungal ecology and physiology during biotransformation of environmental pollutants; genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics studies to understand the molecular basis of mycoremediation processes; the potential applicability of fungi to implement bioremediation strategies at different scales; fungal treatment of wastewaters and solids wastes; biotechnological application focused on biotransformation, removal, and biosorption of pollutants by fungi; among others.

This Special Issue will publish work that contributes to a fuller understanding of the mechanisms of xenobiotic fungal degradation at different levels, from a genetic, transcriptomic, and proteomic point of view. These findings will contribute to the tailoring design bioremediation strategies toward a clean and healthy environment.

Dr. Elisabet Aranda
Dr. Ramón Alberto Batista-García
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Fungi is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • mycoremediation
  • fungal bioremediation
  • fungi-mediated biotransformation
  • fungi
  • Ascomycota, Basidiomycota
  • xenobiotics, emerging pollutants
  • biotechnological applications
  • omics approaches

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 3538 KiB  
Article
High-Throughput Microbial Community Analyses to Establish a Natural Fungal and Bacterial Consortium from Sewage Sludge Enriched with Three Pharmaceutical Compounds
by Alejandro Ledezma-Villanueva, Tatiana Robledo-Mahón, Cinta Gómez-Silván, Gabriela Angeles-De Paz, Clementina Pozo, Maximino Manzanera, Concepción Calvo and Elisabet Aranda
J. Fungi 2022, 8(7), 668; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof8070668 - 25 Jun 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3012
Abstract
Emerging and unregulated contaminants end up in soils via stabilized/composted sewage sludges, paired with possible risks associated with the development of microbial resistance to antimicrobial agents or an imbalance in the microbial communities. An enrichment experiment was performed, fortifying the sewage sludge with [...] Read more.
Emerging and unregulated contaminants end up in soils via stabilized/composted sewage sludges, paired with possible risks associated with the development of microbial resistance to antimicrobial agents or an imbalance in the microbial communities. An enrichment experiment was performed, fortifying the sewage sludge with carbamazepine, ketoprofen and diclofenac as model compounds, with the aim to obtain strains with the capability to transform these pollutants. Culturable microorganisms were obtained at the end of the experiment. Among fungi, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Alternaria alternata and Penicillium raistrickii showed remarkable degradation rates. Population shifts in bacterial and fungal communities were also studied during the selective pressure using Illumina MiSeq. These analyses showed a predominance of Ascomycota (Dothideomycetes and Aspergillaceae) and Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria, suggesting the possibility of selecting native microorganisms to carry out bioremediation processes using tailored techniques. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fungal Biodegradation: Strategies, Current Understanding, and Future Prospects)
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21 pages, 2318 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Diversity and Aromatic Hydrocarbon Degrading Potential of Epiphytic Fungi on Hornbeams from Chronically Polluted Areas
by Valeria Imperato, Miguel Portillo-Estrada, Anabel Saran, Anneleen Thoonen, Łukasz Kowalkowski, Stanislaw W. Gawronski, Francois Rineau, Jaco Vangronsveld and Sofie Thijs
J. Fungi 2021, 7(11), 972; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof7110972 - 16 Nov 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3212
Abstract
Plants can ‘catch’ and mitigate airborne pollutants and are assisted by fungi inhabiting their leaves. The structure and function of the fungal communities inhabiting the phyllosphere of hornbeam trees growing in two chronically polluted areas, the oilfield of Bóbrka and the city center [...] Read more.
Plants can ‘catch’ and mitigate airborne pollutants and are assisted by fungi inhabiting their leaves. The structure and function of the fungal communities inhabiting the phyllosphere of hornbeam trees growing in two chronically polluted areas, the oilfield of Bóbrka and the city center of Warsaw, were compared to the ones growing in one nature reserve, the Białowieża National Park. Fungi were isolated and characterized both phylogenetically and functionally for their potential role in air pollution mitigation. Both culture-dependent (e.g., enzyme assays and tolerance tests) and culture-independent methods (e.g., ITS and shotgun sequencings) were used. Furthermore, the degradation potential of the fungi was assessed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Shotgun sequencing showed that the phyllosphere fungal communities were dominated by fungi belonging to the phylum Ascomycota. Aureobasidium was the only genus detected at the three locations with a relative abundance ≥1.0%. Among the cultivated epiphytic fungi from Bóbrka, Fusarium sporotrichioides AT11, Phoma herbarum AT15, and Lophiostoma sp. AT37 showed in vitro aromatic hydrocarbon degradation potential with laccase activities of 1.24, 3.62, and 7.2 μU L−1, respectively, and peroxidase enzymes with activities of 3.46, 2.28, and 7.49 μU L−1, respectively. Furthermore, Fusarium sporotrichioides AT11 and Phoma herbarum AT15 tolerated exposure to airborne naphthalene and benzene. Lophiostoma sp. AT37 was the most tolerant to exposure to these pollutants, in line with being the best potential aromatic hydrocarbon degrader isolated in this study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fungal Biodegradation: Strategies, Current Understanding, and Future Prospects)
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10 pages, 1089 KiB  
Article
Fungal Mobilization of Selenium in the Presence of Hausmannite and Ferric Oxyhydroxides
by Bence Farkas, Hana Vojtková, Marek Bujdoš, Marek Kolenčík, Martin Šebesta, Michaela Matulová, Eva Duborská, Martin Danko, Hyunjung Kim, Kateřina Kučová, Zuzana Kisová, Peter Matúš and Martin Urík
J. Fungi 2021, 7(10), 810; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof7100810 - 28 Sep 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2224
Abstract
Bioleaching of mineral phases plays a crucial role in the mobility and availability of various elements, including selenium. Therefore, the leachability of selenium associated with the surfaces of ferric and manganese oxides and oxyhydroxides, the prevailing components of natural geochemical barriers, has been [...] Read more.
Bioleaching of mineral phases plays a crucial role in the mobility and availability of various elements, including selenium. Therefore, the leachability of selenium associated with the surfaces of ferric and manganese oxides and oxyhydroxides, the prevailing components of natural geochemical barriers, has been studied in the presence of filamentous fungus. Both geoactive phases were exposed to selenate and subsequently to growing fungus Aspergillus niger for three weeks. This common soil fungus has shown exceptional ability to alter the distribution and mobility of selenium in the presence of both solid phases. The fungus initiated the extensive bioextraction of selenium from the surfaces of amorphous ferric oxyhydroxides, while the hausmannite (Mn3O4) was highly susceptible to biodeterioration in the presence of selenium. This resulted in specific outcomes regarding the selenium, iron, and manganese uptake by fungus and residual selenium concentrations in mineral phases as well. The adverse effects of bioleaching on fungal growth are also discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fungal Biodegradation: Strategies, Current Understanding, and Future Prospects)
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15 pages, 3722 KiB  
Article
Bioleaching of Manganese Oxides at Different Oxidation States by Filamentous Fungus Aspergillus niger
by Bence Farkas, Marek Bujdoš, Filip Polák, Michaela Matulová, Martin Cesnek, Eva Duborská, Ondřej Zvěřina, Hyunjung Kim, Martin Danko, Zuzana Kisová, Peter Matúš and Martin Urík
J. Fungi 2021, 7(10), 808; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof7100808 - 28 Sep 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3240
Abstract
This work aimed to examine the bioleaching of manganese oxides at various oxidation states (MnO, MnO·Mn2O3, Mn2O3 and MnO2) by a strain of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger, a frequent soil representative. Our [...] Read more.
This work aimed to examine the bioleaching of manganese oxides at various oxidation states (MnO, MnO·Mn2O3, Mn2O3 and MnO2) by a strain of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger, a frequent soil representative. Our results showed that the fungus effectively disintegrated the crystal structure of selected mineral manganese phases. Thereby, during a 31-day static incubation of oxides in the presence of fungus, manganese was bioextracted into the culture medium and, in some cases, transformed into a new biogenic mineral. The latter resulted from the precipitation of extracted manganese with biogenic oxalate. The Mn(II,III)-oxide was the most susceptible to fungal biodeterioration, and up to 26% of the manganese content in oxide was extracted by the fungus into the medium. The detected variabilities in biogenic oxalate and gluconate accumulation in the medium are also discussed regarding the fungal sensitivity to manganese. These suggest an alternative pathway of manganese oxides’ biodeterioration via a reductive dissolution. There, the oxalate metabolites are consumed as the reductive agents. Our results highlight the significance of fungal activity in manganese mobilization and transformation. The soil fungi should be considered an important geoactive agent that affects the stability of natural geochemical barriers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fungal Biodegradation: Strategies, Current Understanding, and Future Prospects)
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10 pages, 2490 KiB  
Article
Ether Oxidation by an Evolved Fungal Heme-Peroxygenase: Insights into Substrate Recognition and Reactivity
by Raul Mireles, Joaquin Ramirez-Ramirez, Miguel Alcalde and Marcela Ayala
J. Fungi 2021, 7(8), 608; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof7080608 - 28 Jul 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3309
Abstract
Ethers can be found in the environment as structural, active or even pollutant molecules, although their degradation is not efficient under environmental conditions. Fungal unspecific heme-peroxygenases (UPO were reported to degrade low-molecular-weight ethers through an H2O2-dependent oxidative cleavage mechanism. [...] Read more.
Ethers can be found in the environment as structural, active or even pollutant molecules, although their degradation is not efficient under environmental conditions. Fungal unspecific heme-peroxygenases (UPO were reported to degrade low-molecular-weight ethers through an H2O2-dependent oxidative cleavage mechanism. Here, we report the oxidation of a series of structurally related aromatic ethers, catalyzed by a laboratory-evolved UPO (PaDa-I) aimed at elucidating the factors influencing this unusual biochemical reaction. Although some of the studied ethers were substrates of the enzyme, they were not efficiently transformed and, as a consequence, secondary reactions (such as the dismutation of H2O2 through catalase-like activity and suicide enzyme inactivation) became significant, affecting the oxidation efficiency. The set of reactions that compete during UPO-catalyzed ether oxidation were identified and quantified, in order to find favorable conditions that promote ether oxidation over the secondary reactions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fungal Biodegradation: Strategies, Current Understanding, and Future Prospects)
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