Bioaugmentation of tar-contaminated soils under field conditions using Pleurotus ostreatus refuse from commercial mushroom production

The influence of the white rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus on the degradation of selected poly- and heterocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (referred to as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs]) in soil was investigated under field conditions representing the Northern temperate zone. Pleurotus ostreatus was added to two contaminated soils in the form of homogenized refuse from the commercial production of fungus. The soils were collected from a former shipyard (the B&W soil) and underneath a former coal tar storage at an old asphalt factory in Denmark (the Ringe soil). Treatments (control, soil mixed with autoclaved sawdust medium, and soil mixed with P. ostreatus refuse) were set up in triplicate in concrete cylinders (height, 50 cm; diameter, 60 cm). The activity of P. ostreatus was measured as laccase activity and phenanthrene (PHE)- and pyrene (PYR)-degrading bacteria were enumerated. Twenty-one different PAHs were quantified. After nine weeks the concentrations of the 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-ring PAHs in the Ringe soil were reduced by 78, 41, and 4%, respectively. These reductions corresponded with high initial laccase activity, a decrease in pH caused by the fungus, and an increase in the number of PHE- and PYR-degrading bacteria. No significant PAH degradation was observed in the B&W soil. Reasons for the difference in performance of P. ostreatus in the two soils are discussed in terms of soil histories and bioavailability. The use of P. ostreatus refuse holds promising potential for bioremediation purposes.

Production of trichothecenes and other secondary metabolites by Fusarium culmorum and Fusarium equiseti on common laboratory media and a soil organic matter agar: an ecological interpretation

Fusarium culmorum and F. equiseti were characterized with regard to production of trichothecenes and other secondary metabolites. Results following growth on laboratory media are interpreted with the aim of increasing the understanding of fungal metabolism in the field environment. While trichothecene production was detected for 94 of 102 F. culmorum isolates, only 8 of 57 F. equiseti isolates were positive. Profiles of secondary metabolites were compared by following growth on yeast extract sucrose agar (YES), potato sucrose agar (PSA), and an agar medium, prepared from soil organic matter (SOM), which was included to simulate growth conditions in soil. SOM supported the production of chrysogine by F. culmorum. The two species utilized the media differently. F. culmorumproduced zearalenone (ZEA) on YES, whereas some F. equiseti isolates produced ZEA on PSA. Other F. equiseti isolates produced equisetin. These differences may reflect that F. culmorum depends on a pathogenic life style while F. equiseti has a more saprotrophic mode of existence.

Field ecology of the ochratoxin A-producing Penicillium verrucosum: survival and resource colonisation in soil

A field experiment was conducted to elucidate the survival of P. verrucosum in infested bulk soil (T1) and infested soil with waste grain (T2). The infested soil and reference soil (T3) was filled into steel cylinders, which were buried and sampled 13 times during a period from October 1994 to March 1996. The abundance of P. verrucosum and indigenous soil fungi were assessed by dilution plating on a selective and diagnostic medium (DYSG). Kernel infection was examined in T2. According to our results, P. verrucosum seems well adapted to survival in arable soil and little affected by indigenous fungi. During the first autumn and winter the grain caused a proliferation of P. verrucosum while its abundance in bulk soil was more constant except for a decrease in February 95, which is ascribed to frost/thaw alternations. In T2, P. verrucosum initially infected more than 50% of the kernels but during the first few months it was ousted by other fungi. A hypothesis regarding waste grain as the natural niche for the fungus in the field was therefore partly rejected. A gradual decrease in the abundance of P. verrucosum in soil during spring, a die-off in the dry summer and a proliferation during the second winter were found in both T1 and T2. Our results cannot provide the reason for the increase during the second winter. On an overall basis, however, they show that P. verrucosum can survive in the field, proliferate on soil organic matter and probably become an integral part of the soil ecosystem. This may constitute a risk of grain contamination when given appropriate environmental conditions.