Mycoremediation: Pleurotus and hydrocarbon

clean up

Biology based solutions exist within the native ecology that can remediate anthropogenic pollution

Specific biological processes occur that break down and transform the anthropogenic pollution.Native, non-invasive fungi can work in conjunction with the local ecology as a biological solution to the contaminated land, innately working to restore homeostasis.

• Bioremediation: cleaning up environmental contamination via introduction of biota to a system.

• Mycoremediation: bioremediation technique utilizing fungal enzymatic activity to clean up contamination.

Adapted from “Mycoremediation: Transforming toxins, facilitating systemic health,” (Marshall, 2013)

Utilization of fungi for remediation In Situ (on site) bioremediation enables less disturbance and more

containment of toxic substances. No other site needs to be contaminated by the movement of material.

Use of native fungus can help increase biodiversity without the risk to the local ecology.

Relatively easy and teachable methodology for citizen projects on public as well as private land.

Mycelium can pool available nutrients for plant intake, allowing plants to become better established in deficient soil. Mycelial networks can create more complex soil structure, reducing erosion and increasing plant communication, facilitating succession.

Fruiting bodies could be removed and appropriately contained, incinerated, or further processed (toxin dependent) through introduction of successive fungal species.

Adapted from “Mycoremediation: Transforming toxins, facilitating systemic health,” (Marshall, 2013)

“There can be no purpose

more enspiriting than to begin

the age of restoration, reweaving the

wondrousDiversity of life

that still surrounds us.”

~Edward O. Wilson

Why clean up PAH contamination?

• PAH’s have been deemed carcinogenic and teratogenic.• Found in human liver tissue and fatty tissues • Hyperaccumulation of toxins such as PAH can occur in plants

grown in contaminated soils, increasing the risk of the people eating the produce.

PAH enters the soilThere are many different kinds of PAH’sMost are waste industrial product or partially combusted fuel sources.Petroleum products, oil, coal, tar

Overland flow, or stormwater runoff is a major contributor as the pollutants are swept away with particulate matter and end up in the soil and waterways.

Oil spills, leaking storage containers, dump sites, illegal discharges

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) degradation

via fungal enzymatic activity• Similar bonds exist in wood and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. PAH chemical structure is close enough to ligninExtracellular enzymes break down lignin and cellulose

Enzymes: laccase and peroxidase, ligninase, cellulasePleurotus spp utilize extracellular processes to detoxify the hydrocarbons, enabling the fungi to withstand environments with higher toxicity• The fungus excretes the enzymes (extracellular process), breaking

down the polymers into monomers. The chains are broken down and becomes a form the fungus can metabolize.

Hydrocarbons to carbohydratesThe end product of this process of “mineralization” is CO2 and H20.

Adapted from “Mycoremediation: Transforming toxins, facilitating systemic health,” (Marshall, 2013)

Breakdown of lignin

Same enzymes break down polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)

Oyster MushroomPleurotus spBasidiomycete- fruiting body

Saprophytic: ability to break down woody plant matter

Major activity of saprobic fungi: “lignocellulose degrading enzymes”

• Successful breakdown of carbon rings, characteristic of saprophytic fungi, lends to the remediation of PAH contaminated soils.

Pleurotus spp life cycle

Common Colorado Pleurotus species

• Cotton Wood Oyster (P. pulmonaria)o Presenting later, in summer. Lower elevations along streams, on

stumps and logs.

• Aspen Oyster (P. populinus)o Presenting earlier, in spring. Mountainous areas in aspen groves.

Identification of spores under microscope is the most accurate way to discern the difference between the two species.

Summer oysters releasing spores in native habitat in a hardwood forest of west central OH:

Pleurotus Releasing Spores (1:30 to 2:10)

Common Stages of Cultivation

• Spore collection• Inoculation• Incubation• Mycelium growth

Introduction of mycelium to substrate.

(This could be secondary sterile medium or could be the initial introduction to the land at the project depending on quality or quantity of mycelium needed for the project and quality and quantity of initial growth medium.)

Native Eastern Slope CO habitat

Boulder, Niwot, Nederland, Fort Collins, are a few locations people commonly find Oyster mushrooms, but there are a plentitude of locations.

• Looking for regions specifically with the preferred deciduous trees, Aspen and Cottonwood, of the most common Colorado Pleurotus species. Harvest sites are often riparian.

• Oysters present early in the spring along with Morels in the Colorado Front Range.

• Along creeks in flat locations, especially where stumps can be found. These are a likely host of oyster mushrooms.

Limitations• Change in weather and climate• Natural disasters, specifically drought and forest

fire• Invasive non native fungi• Predators (slugs, deer, squirrels, turtles)• Too high a concentration of toxin in soil.

Accessibility• Storm water controls and horticulture products

already exist that can host fungi spawn. • Versatility of grow material; there are many

accessible options. • No harmful chemicals added in the process.• The fungus can be found in the local environment.• Fairly simple process being utilized world wide to

facilitate ecosystem health.• DIY ability is high, so people are utilizing the

information and creating their own workshops, enabling an iterative process, spreading the availability of the technology.

US Mycoremediation Projects • National forest service has employed mushroom

compost to increase land health• Washington Department of Transportation

(WSDOT), Bellingham WA 1998- diesel contaminationo Ongoing WSDOT projects

• 2007 SF Bay Cusco Busan oil spill, CA• Puget Sound clean up, WA• Dungeness Watershed, WA (water filtration)• Orcas Island Cayou Lagoon restoration, WA• Newtown Creek, NYC

International Projects

• Amazon Mycorenewal Project in Ecuador Ongoing experimentation on oil contaminated land

• Russia and Korea 2007 oil spill remediation• Germany, China, India, and Russia

have a large body of research in the area.

Amazon Mycorenewal Project

Experiential Opportunities in mycoremediation

• Telluride Mushroom Festival- (Pre festival mycoremediation course)Telluride CO

• telluridemushroomfest.org

• Fungi for the People- Workshops in Eugene OR

fungiforthepeople.org

• Fungi Perfecti- Seminars in Olympia WA, kits

fungi.com

• Amazon Mycorenewal Project- Project Volunteering (work study style) in Sucumbios Ecuador

amazonmycorenewal.org

Citations• Fortin C. 2012. Salamander and Newt Friends on Oyster Mushrooms. Steep Ravine.

http://steepravine.com/post/35059652691/salamander-and-newt-friends-on-oyster-mushrooms• Ingham B. 2015. Soil Fungi. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Soils. Available from:

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/soils/health/biology/?cid=nrcs142p2_053864• Kuo M. 2005. Pleurotus ostreatus: The oyster mushroom. MushroomExpert.Com. Available from:

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/pleurotus_ostreatus.html (oyster mushroom tall tree, other stump image)• Peel N. 2010. The Solution to Pollution: Mycoremediation in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Blip.Tv. Available from:

https://archive.org/details/ZoeYoung-TheSolutionToPollutionMycoremediationInTheEcuadorianAma820-2.• Stamets P. 2010. Mycoremediation and Its Applications to Oil Spills. Reality Sandwich. Retrieved on December 7, 2013 from

http://realitysandwich.com/49898/mycoremediation_and_oil_spills/• Stamets P. 2000. Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms. Third ed. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley• 2015. Oyster Mushroom: Pleurotus ostreatus. Available from:

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/oyster__mushroom.htm• 2014. Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). 2015. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). USGS Environmental

Health: Toxic Substances. USGS. Available from: http://toxics.usgs.gov/definitions/pah.html• 2014. Pleurotus pulmonarius: Oyster Mushroom, Cottonwood Oyster. Coloradomushrooms.com. Available from:

http://www.coloradomushrooms.com/mushroom.php?id=76• / (PAH in food)• 2015. Coal-Tar Sealant and PAH Contamination. Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council.

http://www.watershedcouncil.org/learn/coal-tar-sealant-and-pah-contamination/ (diagram PAH sealant)• 2015. Amazon Mycorenewal Project. http://amazonmycorenewal.org/ (logo)• Furchgott E. 2014. Commercial/scientific/ multimedia. Blue Heron Multimedia. Available from: http://www.blueheron1.com/#!

Mushroom Life Cycle/zoom/c1n0f/image11tu• 1983. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Evaluation of Sources and Effects. National Research Council (US) Committee on

Pyrene and Selected Analogues. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US). Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK217754

• http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SCIENCE-BIOLOGY-MYCOLOGY-MUSHROOM-FUNGUS-TOADSTOOL-CHART-POSTER-PRINT-BB7301B-/151169526070