Tolerance of native Magellan fungi in peat to anthracene and n-dodecane for potential use in bioremediation

Abstract

The tolerances of filamentous Magellan fungi in peat were analyzed in the presence of structurally different petroleum hydrocarbons to assess their abilities for bioremediation in contaminated soils. Fungi on PDA (potato dextrose agar) and fresh peat plates were cultured and purified. The morphologically identified species were grown in a hydrocarbon adapted-fungi (HAF) medium. Increasing concentrations of anthracene, n-dodecane and furfural were applied to observe tolerances based on the radial growth kinetics of hyphae. The results showed that the radial growths of hyphae in anthracene reached average speeds of 10.95 +/- 1.21, 11.03 +/- 3.14 and 10.96 +/- 4.61 mm h(-1) in 0.1, 1 and 2 g L-1 solutions, respectively. The average growth rates in n-dodecane were 10.52 +/- 3.33, 14.67 +/- 1.88 and 10.86 +/- 3.50 mm h(-1) in 10, 20 and 40 g L-1 solutions, respectively. The growth rate in furfural reached 3.95 +/- 1.07 mm/h in a 5 g L-1 concentration. The results suggest that the identified filamentous fungi are tolerant to anthracene and n-dodecane, which are the primary components of petroleum fractions. Furfural, a recognized antifungal, limited the growth. The results also indicate hydrocarbon degradation, suggesting that Magellanic peat can be used as a potential inoculum in bioremediation treatment processes associated with petroleum-contaminated soils. The observed filamentous fungi belong to the Penicillium genus based on visual identification and 18S rRNA