Table 7.4. Pesticide removal efficiency of various fungal strains from the environment.
Fungal Strain
Pesticide
Pesticide
concentration
(mg L–1)
Remediation
(%)
Reaction
time
References
Phanerochaete
chrysosporium
Thiamethoxam
10
49
10 d
Chen et al. 2021
10
98
25 d
Fusarium oxysporum
Strain JASA1
Malathion
0.4
100
8 d
Peter et al. 2015
Aspergilus fumigatus and
Byssochlamys spectabilis
consortia
Chlorpyrifos
10
98.4
30 d
Kumar et al. 2021
Fusarium proliferatum
Strain CF2
Allethrin
50
100
6 d
Bhatt et al. 2020
Aspergillus vesicolor
Trichlosan
7.5
71.91
5 d
Ertit Taştan and
Dönmez 2015
Aspergillus niger
Endosulfan
35
100
5 d
Bhalerao and
Puranik 2007
Aspergillus niger
13 MK640786
Diazinon
25
82
7 d
Hamad 2020
Ganoderma lucidum GL2
Lindane,
0.004–0.040
75.5
28 d
Kaur et al. 2016
Trichoderma harzianum
CBMAI 167
Pentachlorophenol
50
100
7 d
Vacondio et al.
2015
d – days
118
Bioremediation for Sustainable Environmental Cleanup
Irprex lacteus demonstrated degradation rates greater than 70%, when grown in the presence of
chlorpyrifos at a temperature of 30°C and pH 7 (Wang et al. 2020). In another study, Fang et al.
(2008), reported the removal of chlorpyrifos by the fungal strain verticillium sp. with high removal
efficiency. Kulshrestha and Kumari (2011), explored the potential removal of chlorpyrifos in both
mixed and pure fungi. They reported that mixed cultures could remove up to 300 mg L–1 chlorpyrifos.
Another widely used insecticide of interest, allethrin, has a direct impact on human health. Bhatt
et al. (2020) isolated Fusarium proliferatum CF2 from an allethrin contaminated agriculture site.
The isolate could completely degrade the allethrin in 6 d. Endosulfan is degraded by a variety of
fungal strains, including Paecilomyces variotii, Paecilomyces lilacinus (Hernández-Ramos et al.
2019), Aspergillus sydoni (Goswami et al. 2009), Pleurotus eryngi (Wang et al. 2018), Aspergillus
niger, Penicillium chrysogenum and Aspergillus flavus (Ahmad 2020). Endosulfan degradation
was also reported using Trametes hirsute (Kamei et al. 2011). Two pathways were reported, i.e.,
hydrolysis and oxidation of endosulfan that convert it to endosulfan diol and endosulfan sulfate,
respectively. In an aqueous medium and soil, the bacterial and fungal consortia could remove
endosulfan effectively (Abraham and Silambarasan 2014).
Several studies have reported the efficacy of fungi to degrade different pesticides (Table 7.4).
Phanerochaete chrysosporium grown in 10 mg L–1 of thiamethoxam resulted in degradation rates
of 49 and 98% during 15 and 25 d, respectively (Chen et al. 2021). An estimated 71% of triclosan
was degraded by Aspergillus versicolor (Ertit Taştan and Dönmez 2015). Trichoderma harzianum
CBMAI 167 isolated from a marine environment was grown in 50 mg L–1 of pentachlorophenol
(PCP), which resulted in complete degradation to pentachloroanisole (PCA) after incubation for
7 d (Vacondio et al. 2015). It was also observed that PCA was degraded by Trichoderma harzianum
CBMAI 167. When Bjerkandera adusta and Anthracophyllum discolor species were grown in PCP
contaminated soil (100, 250 and 350 mg kg–1), both fungi degraded PCP, however, the highest