ALGINATE ENCAPSULATION OF THE WHITE-ROT FUNGUS PHANEROCHAETE-CHRYSOSPORIUM

In the laboratory, the white rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium de grades numerous organic pollutants. Lack of a slow-release delivery sy stem to toxic waste sites, for this and other fungi, however, constitu tes an important barrier to practical implementation. In this study, t he use of calcium alginate as an encapsulant for mycelia was investiga ted; samples were in the form of pellets 1-3 mm in diameter. When refr igerated, alginate-embedded mycelia of P. chrysosporium were viable fo r one year, both with and without nutrient supplementation. At room te mperature, in the absence of nutrient supplementation, viability decre ased sharply within 2 months. Addition of sawdust or corncob grits ext ended the viability of alginate-embedded mycelia; nevertheless, after 9 months only about 20% of the pellets stored at room temperature yiel ded fungal growth. Spores of P. chrysosporium, embedded in alginate pe llets together with corncob grits, gave 75% viability after 9 months o f storage at room temperature. Alginate-embedded mycelia were used in Petri plate toxicity tests with 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and gave m ore rapid and reproducible results than tests performed with mycelial plugs. These experiments demonstrated the feasibility of encapsulating P. chrysosporium in calcium alginate pellets, thus providing a potent ial method of delivering white rot fungi to toxic waste sites, as well as for developing a system of standardized toxicity testing in plate assays.