Role of Fungal Enzymes for Bioremediation of Hazardous Chemicals

Abstract

Environmental hazard is growing more and more due to the indiscriminate and frequently deliberate release of harmful substances. Use of chemicals in industrial processes including nuclear experiments, agricultural practices, and various aspects of our daily lives resulted into the release of potential hazardous chemicals into the environment either on purpose or by accident. These hazardous chemicals known to pollute the environment are pesticides, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, drugs, halogenated solvents, and agricultural chemicals. After their release into environment, these chemicals are transported through the water, soil, and atmosphere sources. Fungi play a very crucial role in bioremediation of hazardous chemicals owing to their robust morphology and diverse metabolic capacity. Fungal enzymes have potential to effectively transform and detoxify hazardous substances. They have been recognized to be able to transform pollutants at a detectable rate and are potentially suitable to restore polluted environments. The fungal degradation of xenobiotics is looked upon as an effective method of removing these pollutants from the environment by a process which is currently known as bioremediation. The present chapter focuses on different fungal groups secreted a number of enzymes from a variety of habitats with their role in bioremediation of different toxic and recalcitrant compounds. This chapter presents an extensive review of the fungal activities on hazardous chemicals, fungal diversity, and the use of fungi in the degradation of chemical pollutants, enzyme degrading systems, and perspectives on the use of fungi in bioremediation and unexplored research.