ACCUMULATION AND DEGRADATION OF DEAD-END METABOLITES DURING TREATMENTOF SOIL CONTAMINATED WITH POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC-HYDROCARBONS WITH 5 STRAINS OF WHITE-ROT FUNGI

The white-rot fungi Trametes versicolor PRL 572, Trametes versicolor M UCL 28407, Pleurotus ostreatus MUCL 29527, Pleurotus sajor-caju MUCL 2 9757 and Phanerochaete chrysosporium DSM 1556 were investigated for th eir ability to degrade the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) anth racene, benz[a]anthracene and dibenz[a, h]anthracene in soil. The fung i were grown on wheat straw and mixed with artificially contaminated s oil. The results of this study show that, in a heterogeneous soil envi ronment, the fungi have different abilities to degrade PAH, with Trame tes showing little or no accumulation of dead-end metabolites and Phan erochaete and Pleurotus showing almost complete conversion of anthrace ne to 9,10-anthracenedione. In contrast to earlier studies, Phanerocha ete showed the ability to degrade the accumulated 9,10-anthracenedione while Pleurotus did not. This proves that, in a heterogeneous soil sy stem, the PAH degradation pattern for white-rot fungi can be quite dif ferent from that in a controlled liquid system.