ACCUMULATION OF HEAVY-METALS BY SOME WOOD-ROTTING FUNGI

Accumulation of aluminum, cadmium, lead and calcium was studied in the wood-rotting fungi Daedalea quercina, Gonoderma appanatum, Stereum hi rsutum and Schizophyllum commune. The heavy metal content was measured in mycelia cultured in liquid media in the presence of either individ ual Al, Cd, Ph and Ca salts or of their mixtures. After 8-d cultivatio ns in media containing 1 mmol/L concentrations of individual heavy met als, the lead content was maximal in the mycelium of Stereum hirsutum (90.6 mmol/g) while the mycelium of Ganoderma applanatum contained max imal values of cadmium (272 mmol/g), aluminum (600 mmol/g) and calcium (602 mmol/g). When the mycelia were grown on mixtures of all metal sa lts, lead was the preferentially accumulated ion except in G. applanat um which had a higher affinity for aluminum.