Organochlorine biocides such as lindane, pentachlorophenol sodium salt, and polychlorinated biphenyl 153 have been widely used as wood preservatives. Due to their low degradability by soil bacteria, treated waste wood products pose a serious threat to the environment. Consequently, there is an increased need for development of new strategies for their detoxification. In this work, the bioremediation potential of selected white rot fungi (basidimycetes Pleurotus ostreatus and Trametes versicolor, and ascomycete Hypohylon fragiforme) and one brown rot basidiomycete Gleophyllum trabeum was estimated by analysing the degraded biocide products following their 22-day exposure to fungal mycelium in liquid cultures. P. ostreatus showed the highest efficiency in degrading lindane and PCB-153, that had no deterious effects on fungal growth. Similarly, sodium pentachlorophenol was efficiently degraded by T. versicolor, whose growth was unaffected by the presence of this biocide. H. fragiforme and G. trabeum were considerably less effective in degrading all the tested biocides. Our results indicate the promising potential of white rot basiodiomycetes for environmental-friendly decomposition of potentially harmful wood preservatives.

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