Mycoremediation: An Eco-friendly Approach for Degradation of Pesticides

Abstract

Pesticides are toxic and recalcitrant in nature and cause contamination in natural ecosystems and thereafter health problems in ultimate consumers. The residual effects of pesticides include carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, reproductive toxicity, and various other health problems. Currently there are a number of possible mechanisms for the cleanup of pesticides in soil, such as chemical treatment, volatilization, and incineration, but for both economic and ecological reasons, biological degradation has become an increasingly popular alternative for the treatment of pesticide residues in soil and water. Mycoremediation plays pivotal role in the treatment of various organic and inorganic pollutants. Fungi can easily colonize and utilize pesticides as nutrient source and degrade or fragment them into nontoxic simpler forms. Fungi are great biodegrades and the resultant compost has been used to enhance the growth of plants as well as bioremediation activity in the environment. A number of fungi (Pleurotus ostreatus, Rhizoctonia solani, Mucor, Aspergillus, Rhizopus arrhizus, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Trametes hirsuta, Lentinus edodes, Trametes versicolor, Bjerkandera adusta, Lentinula edodes, Irpex lacteus, Agaricus bisporus, Pleurotus tuber-regium, Pleurotus pulmonarius, Trichoderma harzianum) have been reported till date involved in degradation of various pesticides.