Ganoderma lucidum Immobilized on Wood Demonstrates High Persistence During the Removal of OPFRs in a Trickle-Bed Bioreactor

Emerging pollutants such as organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) pose a critical threat to environmental and human health, while conventional wastewater treatments often fail to remove them. This study addresses this issue by evaluating the bioremediation potential of white-rot fungi for the rem...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Tayar, Shamim; Villagra, Javier|||0009-0002-4536-9779; Gaju, Núria|||0000-0002-4951-2096; Martínez-Alonso, Maira|||0000-0002-3321-2558; Beltrán Flores, Eduardo|||0000-0002-3506-2899; Sarrà, Montserrat|||0000-0002-3447-6328
Format: Article
Publication date:2025
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repository:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:310120
Online Access:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/310120
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.3390/jof11020085
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Flame retardants
Bioreactor
Immobilization
White-rot fungi
Microbial assessment
Description
Summary:Emerging pollutants such as organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) pose a critical threat to environmental and human health, while conventional wastewater treatments often fail to remove them. This study addresses this issue by evaluating the bioremediation potential of white-rot fungi for the removal of two OPFRs: tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) and tributyl phosphate (TBP). Three fungal species- Ganoderma lucidum, Trametes versicolor, and Phanerochaete velutina -were screened for their degradation capabilities. Among these, G. lucidum and T. versicolor demonstrated removal efficiencies exceeding 99% for TBP, while removal rates for TCEP were significantly lower, with a maximum of 30%. The exploration of the enzyme role showed that cytochrome P450 is involved in the degradation while the extracellular laccase is not involved. Continuous batch experiments were performed using a trickle-bed reactor (TBR) operating under non-sterile conditions, a setting that closely resembles real-world wastewater treatment environments. G. lucidum was immobilized on oak wood chips, and the removal efficiencies were measured to be 85.3% and 54.8% for TBP and TCEP, respectively, over 10 cycles. Microbial community analysis showed that G. lucidum remained the dominant species in the reactor. These findings demonstrate the efficacy of fungal-based trickle-bed bioreactors, offering a sustainable and efficient alternative for addressing environmental pollution caused by highly recalcitrant pollutants.