Lignin-degrading fungi

Lamar RT, JW Evans, J Glaser (1993) Solid-phase treatment of a pentachlorophenol-contaminated soil using lignin-degrading fungi. Environ Sci Technol 27 2566-2571. 

Lamar, R.T. Glaser, J.A. (1994). Field evaluations of the remediation of soils contaminated with wood-preserving chemicals using lignin-degrading fungi. In Bioremediation of Chlorinated and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Compounds, ed. R. E. Hinchee, A. Leeson, L. Semprini S. K. Ong, pp. 239-47. Boca Raton, FL Lewis Publishers. 

Deguchi, T., Kakezawa, M. Nishida, T. (1997). Nylon biodegradation by lignin-degrading fungi. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 63, 329-31. 

Harper D. B., Buswell J. A., Kennedy J. T., and Hamilton J. T. G. (1990) Chloromethane, methyl donor in veratryl alcohol biosynthesis in Phanerochaete chrysosporium and other lignin-degrading fungi. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 56, 3450-3457. 

Where the coal tar creosote is in well-oxygenated conditions, lignin degrading fungi like the white rot fungus Phanerochaete sordida can remove much of the PAH fraction (Davis et al. 1993). This fungus can also biodegrade PCP, which has often become mixed with the wastes found at creosote production or disposal sites. 

There is much need for additional study of lignin (United States Department of Energy, 1988). However, new approaches such as the use of enzymes from lignin-degrading fungi and solid-state C-NMR spectroscopy promise to provide resolution of problems long considered intractable (Lewis and Yamamoto, 1990). 

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