This review article describes interactions between heavy metals and microscopic fungi which immobilize those metals and can be used in practical application for cleaning up of toxic metals that contaminate the environment. The biosorption process and following factors: metal concentration, pH, amount of biomass, medium, temperature and biomass modification, influencing biosorption efficiency are described in more detail. The examples of highly-efficient desorption of metals from mycelium are presented, too. The role of fungal cell wall in heavy metal uptake is discussed.
Microscopic fungi are widely used for synthesis and transformation of biologically active compounds e.g. antibiotics, corticosteroids and androgens. The fungal strains applied for steroid hormone production are also able to attack pollutants, including deleterious xenobiotics e.g. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), chlorophenols or organotins to less toxic derivatives. Transformation, detoxification, and degradation of both types of hydrophobic substrates (steroids and xenobiotics), as well as heavy metals recovery from industrial wastes, are in the center of interest of Department of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology. This paper is a short review on a possibility of application of industrial strains for environment protection and an introduction to our detailed presentations (1-4) on this subject, during The 2nd National Biotechnology Congress in Lodz.
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