Abstract
Increasing arsenic environmental concentrations are raising worldwide concern for its impacts on human health and ecosystem functionality. In order to cope with arsenic contamination, bioremediation using fungi can represent an efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective technological solution. Fungi can mitigate arsenic contamination through different mechanisms including bioaccumulation. In this work, four soil saprotrophic fungi Absidia spinosa, Purpureocillium lilacinum, Metarhizium marquandii, and Cephalotrichum nanum, isolated from soils with naturally high arsenic concentrations, were tested for their ability to tolerate different sodium arsenite concentrations and accumulate As in different cultural conditions. pH medium after fungal growth was measured to study pH variation and metabolic responses. Arsenic bioaccumulation and its influence on the uptake of other elements were investigated through multi-elemental analysis using hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HG-AFS), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Considering the increasing interest in siderophore application for metal bioremediation, the production of siderophores and their affinity for both Fe and As were also evaluated. All species were able to tolerate and accumulate As in their biomass in all of the tested conditions and produced siderophores with different affinities for Fe and As. The results suggest that the tested fungi are attractive potential candidates for the bioremediation of As contaminated soil and worthy of further investigation.
Highlights
Increasing arsenic (As) environmental concentrations are raising worldwide concern due to the impacts on human health and ecosystem functionality [1,2]
On Czapek-Dox Agar (CDA), A. spinosa showed greater growth than other species, while the lowest values of diameter and dry weights in both nutritional conditions were observed in C. nanum
This work evaluated the potential of four saprotrophic fungal species to tolerate high sodium arsenite concentrations, accumulate arsenic in their biomass, and release siderophores with an affinity for the complexation of As and Fe
Summary
Increasing arsenic (As) environmental concentrations are raising worldwide concern due to the impacts on human health and ecosystem functionality [1,2]. Chemical species of As can be toxic for living organisms as arsenate can compete with the essential inorganic phosphate, and arsenite can inactivate many enzymes by binding to protein thiols [3]. As can cause severe toxic effects to integumentary, cardiovascular, reproductive, and neurological systems, leading in extreme cases to the development of malignant tumors and death [4]. Arsenic is a naturally occurring metalloid that is widely distributed in the Earth’s crust [3]. In several locations worldwide (e.g., Bangladesh, India, China, USA)
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