Toxicity of Pentachlorophenol to Six Species of White Rot Fungi as a Function of Chemical Dose

Abstract

The growth of six species of white rot fungi was a function of pentachlorophenol (PCP) dose, expressed as mass of PCP per mass of mycelia, at PCP doses </=35 mug mg of mycelium, and not concentration. At higher doses, Inonotus dryophilus, Perenniporia medulla-panis, and Ganoderma oregonense removed less PCP than three other species of white rot fungi. Phanerochaete chrysosporium grown under nitrogen-deficient conditions was inactivated at PCP doses that under nitrogen-sufficient conditions resulted in only 2-day lag periods in growth. Trametes versicolor was the fastest-growing species that remained viable at higher PCP doses. Both Trametes versicolor and Phellinus badius were able to degrade PCP at higher PCP doses.