Biosorption of copper by living Phanerochaete chrysosporium mycelium

Abstract

White-rot fungi such as Phanerochaete chrysosporium have been intensively studied on their capability and mechanism of degradation of lignin and various recalcitrant pollutants such as benzo[a]pyrene, pentachlorophenol, trichloroethane and synthetic dyes [1]. Their applications to decolorisation of industrial wastewater such as the effluents from pulp and paper mills and textile dyeing houses have been reported [2, 3]. Various heavy metal cations such as Cu²⁺, Co²⁺ and Cr³⁺ may exist in the industrial wastewater and impair the fungal ability of pollutant degradation. Heavy metals can exert harmful effects principally as a consequence of their strong coordinating abilities by blocking functional groups of biologically important molecules, displacing and/or substituting the essential metal ions from the biomolecules, and deactivating enzymes [4].