Degradation of phenanthrene and pyrene by Nematoloma frowardii

✍ Scribed by Ute Sack; Martin Hofrichter; Wolfgang Fritsche

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 472 KB
• Volume: 37
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0233-111X
• DOI: 10.1002/jobm.3620370408

✦ Synopsis

The white-rot fungus Nematoloma frowardii was examined for the ability to degrade [ring U-i4C]phenanthrene and [4,5,9,10-i4C]pyrene in liquid and solid (straw) cultures in a period of 63 days. 3.2% phenanthrene and 8.6% pyrene were mineralized to 14C0, in liquid cultures, respectively. A considerable higher mineralization of 1 1.2% (phenanthrene) and 46.5% (pyrene) was detected in straw cultures. Metabolites were identified by their UV absorption spectra. N. frowardii transformed phenanthrene to phenanthrene 9,lO-dihydrodiol. Pyrene 4,5-dihydrodiol was identified as major metabolite in pyrene degradation.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), like phenanthrene (three ring PAH) and pyrene (four ring PAH) are widely distributed pollutants in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems (BLUMER 1976). The ability of wood-decaying fungi to mineralize PAHs seems to be connected with the activity of ligninolytic enzymes, since mineralization in liquid or soil cultures has mostly been described for wood-decaying fungi like the white-rot fungi Phanerochaete chrysosporium (