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Fungal biodegradation and removal of cyanobacteria and microcystins: potential applications and research needs

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Abstract

Harmful cyanobacterial blooms (HCB) have severe impacts on marine and freshwater systems worldwide. They cause oxygen depletion and produce potent cyanotoxins that have detrimental effects on human and environmental health and deteriorate the water quality. Biological treatment of the water for control of cyanobacterial blooms and removal of cyanotoxins can be a more economical and environment-friendly way, as they do not result in production of undesirable by-products. Most biological treatments of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins have concentrated largely on bacteria, with little attention paid to algicidal fungi. Therefore, this review aims to provide an overview of the current status and the main progresses achieved in fungal biodegradation of HCB and cyanotoxin research. The available data revealed that 15 fungal species had high lytic activity against cyanobacteria, and 6 species were capable of degrading microcystins (MCs). Some fungal species (e.g., Aurobasidium pullulans and Trichoderma citrinoviride) have been identified to selectively inhibit the growth of cyanobacteria rather than beneficial species of other algal groups. Interestingly, some fungal strains (Trichaptum abietinum, Trichoderma citrinoviride) exhibited di-functional trait, being efficient in lysing cyanobacteria and degrading MCs released from the cells after decay. Beyond a comprehensive review of algicidal and toxin-degrading activities of fungi, this paper also identifies and prioritizes research gaps in algicidal fungi. The review also gives insights to the potential applications of algicidal fungi for removal of cyanobacterial blooms and their cyanotoxins from the aquatic environment.

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Funding

The authors declare that funding received from the Deanship of Scientific Research- King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia, through General Research Program under grant number G.R.P.24/42, and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 823860, were used in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Sohag University, Sohag, 82524, Egypt

    Zakaria A. Mohamed

  2. College of Science, Department of Biology, King Khalid University, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia

    Mohamed Hashem & Saad Alamri

  3. Faculty of Science, Botany and Microbiology Department, Assiut University, Assiut, 71516, Egypt

    Mohamed Hashem

  4. CIIMAR, Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, Terminal de Cruzeiros Do Porto de Leixões, Av. General Norton de Matos, s/n, 4450-208, Matosinhos, Portugal

    Alexandre Campos & Vitor Vasconcelos

  5. Departament of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Rua Do Campo Alegre, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal

    Vitor Vasconcelos

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  1. Zakaria A. Mohamed
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Contributions

MH and SA collected and tabulated data of antialgal and toxin-degrading fungi. AC and VV participated in analysis and interpretation of the data. ZM participated in analysis and interpretation of the data, and was a major contributor in writing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zakaria A. Mohamed.

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Mohamed, Z.A., Hashem, M., Alamri, S. et al. Fungal biodegradation and removal of cyanobacteria and microcystins: potential applications and research needs. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 37041–37050 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14623-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14623-w

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