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Pathogenic Yet Environmentally Friendly? Black Fungal Candidates for Bioremediation of Pollutants

A collection of 163 strains of black yeast-like fungi from the CBS Fungal Biodiversity Center (Utrecht, The Netherlands), has been screened for the ability to grow on hexadecane, toluene and polychlorinated biphenyl 126 (PCB126) as the sole carbon and energy source. These compounds were chosen as re...

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Autores principales: Blasi, Barbara, Poyntner, Caroline, Rudavsky, Tamara, Prenafeta-Boldú, Francesc X., Hoog, Sybren De, Tafer, Hakim, Sterflinger, Katja
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Taylor & Francis 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4786828/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27019541
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01490451.2015.1052118
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author Blasi, Barbara
Poyntner, Caroline
Rudavsky, Tamara
Prenafeta-Boldú, Francesc X.
Hoog, Sybren De
Tafer, Hakim
Sterflinger, Katja
author_facet Blasi, Barbara
Poyntner, Caroline
Rudavsky, Tamara
Prenafeta-Boldú, Francesc X.
Hoog, Sybren De
Tafer, Hakim
Sterflinger, Katja
author_sort Blasi, Barbara
collection PubMed
description A collection of 163 strains of black yeast-like fungi from the CBS Fungal Biodiversity Center (Utrecht, The Netherlands), has been screened for the ability to grow on hexadecane, toluene and polychlorinated biphenyl 126 (PCB126) as the sole carbon and energy source. These compounds were chosen as representatives of relevant environmental pollutants. A microtiter plate-based culture assay was set up in order to screen the fungal strains for growth on the selected xenobiotics versus glucose, as a positive control. Growth was observed in 25 strains on at least two of the tested substrates. Confirmation of substrate assimilation was performed by cultivation on closed vials and analysis of the headspace composition with regard to the added volatile substrates and the generated carbon dioxide. Exophiala mesophila (CBS 120910) and Cladophialophora immunda (CBS 110551), both of the order Chaetothyriales and isolated from a patient with chronic sinusitis and a polluted soil sample, respectively, showed the ability to grow on toluene as the sole carbon and energy source. Toluene assimilation has previously been described for C. immunda but this is the first account for E. mesophila. Also, this is the first time that the capacity to grow on alkylbenzenes has been demonstrated for a clinical isolate. Assimilation of toluene could not be demonstrated for the human opportunistic pathogen Pseudoallescheria boydii (CBS 115.59, Microascales), but the results from microtiter plate assays suggest that strains of this species are promising candidates for further studies. The outstanding abilities of black yeast-like fungi to thrive in extreme environments makes them ideal agents for the bioremediation of polluted soils, and for the treatment of contaminated gas streams in biofilters. However, interrelations between hydrocarbonoclastic and potentially pathogenic strains need to be elucidated in order to avoid the possibility of biohazards occurring.
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spelling pubmed-47868282016-03-25 Pathogenic Yet Environmentally Friendly? Black Fungal Candidates for Bioremediation of Pollutants Blasi, Barbara Poyntner, Caroline Rudavsky, Tamara Prenafeta-Boldú, Francesc X. Hoog, Sybren De Tafer, Hakim Sterflinger, Katja Geomicrobiol J Original Articles A collection of 163 strains of black yeast-like fungi from the CBS Fungal Biodiversity Center (Utrecht, The Netherlands), has been screened for the ability to grow on hexadecane, toluene and polychlorinated biphenyl 126 (PCB126) as the sole carbon and energy source. These compounds were chosen as representatives of relevant environmental pollutants. A microtiter plate-based culture assay was set up in order to screen the fungal strains for growth on the selected xenobiotics versus glucose, as a positive control. Growth was observed in 25 strains on at least two of the tested substrates. Confirmation of substrate assimilation was performed by cultivation on closed vials and analysis of the headspace composition with regard to the added volatile substrates and the generated carbon dioxide. Exophiala mesophila (CBS 120910) and Cladophialophora immunda (CBS 110551), both of the order Chaetothyriales and isolated from a patient with chronic sinusitis and a polluted soil sample, respectively, showed the ability to grow on toluene as the sole carbon and energy source. Toluene assimilation has previously been described for C. immunda but this is the first account for E. mesophila. Also, this is the first time that the capacity to grow on alkylbenzenes has been demonstrated for a clinical isolate. Assimilation of toluene could not be demonstrated for the human opportunistic pathogen Pseudoallescheria boydii (CBS 115.59, Microascales), but the results from microtiter plate assays suggest that strains of this species are promising candidates for further studies. The outstanding abilities of black yeast-like fungi to thrive in extreme environments makes them ideal agents for the bioremediation of polluted soils, and for the treatment of contaminated gas streams in biofilters. However, interrelations between hydrocarbonoclastic and potentially pathogenic strains need to be elucidated in order to avoid the possibility of biohazards occurring. Taylor & Francis 2016-03-15 2016-02-25 /pmc/articles/PMC4786828/ /pubmed/27019541 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01490451.2015.1052118 Text en © 2016 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Articles
Blasi, Barbara
Poyntner, Caroline
Rudavsky, Tamara
Prenafeta-Boldú, Francesc X.
Hoog, Sybren De
Tafer, Hakim
Sterflinger, Katja
Pathogenic Yet Environmentally Friendly? Black Fungal Candidates for Bioremediation of Pollutants
title Pathogenic Yet Environmentally Friendly? Black Fungal Candidates for Bioremediation of Pollutants
title_full Pathogenic Yet Environmentally Friendly? Black Fungal Candidates for Bioremediation of Pollutants
title_fullStr Pathogenic Yet Environmentally Friendly? Black Fungal Candidates for Bioremediation of Pollutants
title_full_unstemmed Pathogenic Yet Environmentally Friendly? Black Fungal Candidates for Bioremediation of Pollutants
title_short Pathogenic Yet Environmentally Friendly? Black Fungal Candidates for Bioremediation of Pollutants
title_sort pathogenic yet environmentally friendly? black fungal candidates for bioremediation of pollutants
topic Original Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4786828/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27019541
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01490451.2015.1052118
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