Capability and Mechanisms of Macrofungi in Heavy Metal Accumulation：A Review

• Main Authors: CHEN Miao-miao, ZHENG Xin, LI Xiao-fang
• Format: Article
• Language: zho
• Published: Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture 2017-10-01
• Series: Journal of Agricultural Resources and Environment
• Subjects: macrofungi; heavy metals; accumulation; mechanism
• Online Access: http://www.aed.org.cn/nyzyyhjxb/html/2017/6/20170601

Some macrofungi have the ability to accumulate heavy metals, which is comparable to hyper-accumulator plants. <i>Cordyceps militaris</i> can accumulate Zn up to 20 000 mg&#183;kg^-1. Therefore, macrofungi have the potential to be used as an important bioremediation tool for heavy metals. In this review, we summarized the heavy metal resistant capacity of typical macrofungi and known relevant mechanisms. Generally, straw-decay fungi presented better capability for Cu, Ag and Cd enrichment than wood-decay fungi, while wood-decay fungi could accumulate Cr, Mg, Se and Pb. Different macrofungi species, different growth periods(mycelium and fruiting body) and different parts of fruiting body showed different capability for heavy metals accumulation. General mechanisms for heavy metals accumulation in macrofungi included extracellular precipitation in the forms of polymeric substances, cell wall adsorption and intracellular absorption. Macrofungi could also detoxify by chelating metal ions by metallothionein(MT), secreting antioxidant enzymes(SOD, CAT, POD) and degradating the misfolded proteins by ubiquitin-proteasome system(UPS). We also explored the potential of macrofungi in heavy metal remediation and pollution diagnostics as a biological indicator. Some macrofungi had been applied in the remediation of heavy metal contaminated soils and water. Finally, some future research areas including strain breeding and genetic engineering were discussed, which might provide references for the future studies.