Abstract
Although many species of fungi are able to degrade highly toxic chemicals, only a few species have been evaluated for resistance to toxic effects of these chemicals. In this paper we demonstrate the successful application of a method to rapidly screen several species of fungi for toxicity to chemicals or mixtures of chemicals using pentachlorophenol (PCP) as a model toxic compound. Cellulose antibiotic assay disks were soaked in solutions containing different concentrations of PCP (5, 10, 25, 50, and 80 mg l-1) and then placed in a triangular pattern outside the growing edge of the mycelia of eighteen species of white rot fungi. The plates were incubated and observed for development of inhibition zones (non-growth areas) around the disks. The short-term (24 h) growth of all eighteen species of fungi was inhibited by 5-10 mg-PCP l-1, a range similar to that observed using previously reported techniques. Long-term growth studies using this screening method were not useful since PCP diffused from the disk into the agar, decreasing the applied dose.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 125-129 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Biodegradation |
Volume | 4 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 1993 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Pollution
- Bioengineering
- Environmental Engineering
- Microbiology
- Environmental Chemistry