Mycoremediation of diclofenac using Mucor hiemalis |
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Authors: | Maranda Esterhuizen-Londt Anna-Lena Hendel Stephan Pflugmacher |
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Affiliation: | 1. Technische Universit?t Berlin, Institute for Biotechnology, Chair of Ecological Impact Research and Ecotoxicology, Berlin, Germanyesterhuizen-londt@tu-berlin.de;3. Technische Universit?t Berlin, Institute for Biotechnology, Chair of Ecological Impact Research and Ecotoxicology, Berlin, Germany;4. Joint Laboratory of Applied Ecotoxicology, Korea Institute of Science and Technology Europe (KIST), Saarbrücken, Germany |
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Abstract: | Diclofenac (DCF) is a pharmaceutical drug widely found in the aquatic environment, where it represents a persistent, anthropogenic hazard to all biota. Owing to the reported inefficiency of water treatment strategies to remove pharmaceuticals, the present study aimed to investigate the ability of the aquatic fungus Mucor hiemalis to take up and accumulate DCF. Cultures of M. hiemalis were exposed to varying concentrations of DCF (10, 25 and 50 µg/L) over a period of 144 h. In the presence of M. hiemalis, DCF concentrations in the media decreased by 95% within 24 h. This early removal was most likely due to extracellular metabolism of DCF, as low proportions of the pharmaceutical were found in the mycelium of the fungus, thereby excluding bioaccumulation as the main mode of removal. However, adsorption of DCF onto the surface of the M. hiemalis pellets cannot be excluded. Our study provides the first report of DCF remediation using M. hiemalis and is the first successful step towards a feasible and inexpensive bioremediation technique for DCF. |
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Keywords: | Aquatic fungus mycoremediation diclofenac adsorption metabolism |
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