An efficient PAH-degrading Lentinus (Panus) tigrinus strain: Effect of inoculum formulation and pollutant bioavailability in solid matrices
Abstract
This study comparatively investigated the PAH degradation ability of Lentinus tigrinus and Irpex lacteus in a historically polluted soil and creosote-impregnated shavings. With this regard, the effect of type of inoculum carrier (i.e., wheat straw, corn cobs and commercial pellets) and contaminant bioavailability was thoroughly determined.
Although degradation performances of L. tigrinus were not significantly affected by the type of the support, they were invariably better than those of I. lacteus on both the polluted soil and the creosote-impregnated shavings. Although PAH degradation was highly and significantly correlated with bioavailability in all microcosms, the breakdown of certain PAHs proceeded well above their respective bioavailabilities and this capacity was more pronounced in L. tigrinus than I. lacteus.