Gloeophyllum trabeum · Atlas of Contaminated Sites

Gloeophyllum trabeum (Pers.) Murrill

A brown-rot fungus and the model for a mechanism unlike that of white rots: not ligninolytic peroxidases but extracellular Fenton chemistry. The fungus secretes quinones (2,5-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone) and reduces them to hydroquinones, which reduce Fe3+ and produce H2O2, generating hydroxyl radicals that attack many organic compounds.

Contaminant	Evidence	What was shown
DDT and breakdown products	laboratory	Among 12 brown-rot species tested in potato dextrose broth, G. trabeum, Fomitopsis pinicola and Daedalea dickinsii showed a high ability to degrade DDT. With G. trabeum the products are DDD, DDE and 4,4-dichlorobenzophenone (DBP); without FeSO4 no DBP forms, and a chemical Fenton reaction under similar conditions gives only DBP: the pathway is iron-dependent. Purnomo, Kamei & Kondo (2008) Degradation of 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDT) by brown-rot fungi. J Biosci Bioeng 105:614-621, 2008
Plastics and microplastics	laboratory	The fungus depolymerises polyethylene glycol, a recalcitrant synthetic polymer, by hydrogen abstraction: the reaction requires 2,5-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone and Fe3+ and is completely inhibited by catalase. It concerns a water-soluble polyether, not solid plastics. Kerem, Jensen & Hammel (1999) Biodegradative mechanism of the brown rot basidiomycete Gloeophyllum trabeum: evidence for an extracellular hydroquinone-driven Fenton reaction. FEBS Lett 446:49-54, 1999 Jensen et al. (2001) Pathways for extracellular Fenton chemistry in the brown rot basidiomycete Gloeophyllum trabeum. Appl Environ Microbiol 67:2705-2711, 2001
Pharmaceutical residues	laboratory	Data for a related species, Gloeophyllum striatum: in liquid medium it produced 27.3%, 18.5% and 6.7% 14CO2 in 8 weeks from the veterinary fluoroquinolone enrofloxacin labelled at three different positions; the hydroxylated metabolites partly match those obtained with Fenton's reagent. Wetzstein, Schmeer & Karl (1997) Degradation of the fluoroquinolone enrofloxacin by the brown rot fungus Gloeophyllum striatum: identification of metabolites. Appl Environ Microbiol 63:4272-4281, 1997

Contaminant

Evidence

What was shown

DDT and breakdown products

laboratory

Among 12 brown-rot species tested in potato dextrose broth, G. trabeum, Fomitopsis pinicola and Daedalea dickinsii showed a high ability to degrade DDT. With G. trabeum the products are DDD, DDE and 4,4-dichlorobenzophenone (DBP); without FeSO4 no DBP forms, and a chemical Fenton reaction under similar conditions gives only DBP: the pathway is iron-dependent.

Purnomo, Kamei & Kondo (2008) Degradation of 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDT) by brown-rot fungi. J Biosci Bioeng 105:614-621, 2008

Plastics and microplastics

laboratory

The fungus depolymerises polyethylene glycol, a recalcitrant synthetic polymer, by hydrogen abstraction: the reaction requires 2,5-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone and Fe3+ and is completely inhibited by catalase. It concerns a water-soluble polyether, not solid plastics.

Pharmaceutical residues

laboratory

Data for a related species, Gloeophyllum striatum: in liquid medium it produced 27.3%, 18.5% and 6.7% 14CO2 in 8 weeks from the veterinary fluoroquinolone enrofloxacin labelled at three different positions; the hydroxylated metabolites partly match those obtained with Fenton's reagent.

Wetzstein, Schmeer & Karl (1997) Degradation of the fluoroquinolone enrofloxacin by the brown rot fungus Gloeophyllum striatum: identification of metabolites. Appl Environ Microbiol 63:4272-4281, 1997

Liquid cultures only. Hydroxyl radicals are unselective: in soil they react with organic matter before the pollutant, and the mechanism needs available iron. DDT is converted to DDD, DDE and DBP, which remain chlorinated compounds. No soil or field trial was found.

Gloeophyllum trabeum (Pers.) Murrill

How it works

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How it works

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Other species for the same contaminants